


Not That Special

by TheSarcasticKnight



Series: Not That Series [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Agents of SHIELD, Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempt at Humor, Both designer and vintage, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional Baggage, Explicit Language, Fluff and Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, MCU Canon broke my heart so we're going off-roading here folks, Multi, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, Team as Family, Therapy, They all need therapy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:55:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 42,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29774415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSarcasticKnight/pseuds/TheSarcasticKnight
Summary: Doctors. Inhumans. A world-shattering identity crisis? It’s smooth sailing for Aj Bradshaw as she settles at the Compound with her new found family. The personal assistant turned PR manager turned tutor has a variety of talents, but casual living is not one of them. Aj is more than content to try and learn, but she finds herself at a loss when secrets from her real family’s past threaten to destroy her new one.Here’s to hoping that she can tame the monster hiding in her head before she becomes an orphan all over again.
Relationships: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s), Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Not That Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2188359
Comments: 41
Kudos: 44





	1. A Father's Son

**Author's Note:**

> HERE IT IS FOLKS! FYI to anyone new to this show this is a SEQUEL. This is a SEQUEL to my other story NOT THAT LUCKY. Just a heads up so you're not hella lost my pals. Love you guys so much and I'm so excited to take y'all on this journey! Leggo.

* * *

* * *

_"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: 'What? You, too? I thought I was the only one.'" –C.S Lewis_

* * *

Bucky Barnes had never been a nervous soul. At least, he didn't think he had. He couldn't completely remember if he were being honest. The way he felt right now, sitting on the white cushioned couch in a quiet, empty apartment felt unusual for him though. According to Steve, he had been a pretty confident guy back in the day. He vaguely recalled that. He had glimpses of memories, dates and girls, and holding his head high as he parted a crowd. Bucky believed Steve, the man had no reason to lie, but he sure as hell did not feel confident right now.

Was it weird that he was sitting in Aj's apartment alone?

Yes. Probably yes. He didn't need a working memory to see that.

Bucky was kind of weird guy now, though, so at least he was consistent in that sense.

He had been at the Compound for about three weeks? Today was the seventh of May, and the tenth would officially be the third week. On the topic of episodes, he hadn't had a full one while here yet. Still had nightmares every night, but in the morning when he stumbled out of his room in a daze he'd spot Steve in the kitchen and it'd help. Seeing Steve made him feel safe. If Steve were here then HYDRA didn't have him. Then, he'd wander out of the apartment and see Aj. Seeing Aj made him remember who he was.

Not the Winter Soldier, HYDRA's asset and weapon.

Not James Buchanan Barnes, the confident kid from Brooklyn.

Just Bucky. Broken, but maybe healing Bucky.

The healing part was yet to actually come, but that's technically the path he was on. Just…early stages. _Really_ early. That's why he was here. Sitting nervously in his favorite gal's apartment trying not to look like the creepy weirdo he most definitely felt like right now.

The front door opened, and he stiffened. His hands rubbed against his thighs. They felt clammy. Could a metal hand feel clammy?

" _Honey, I'm home_!" Aj's cheery voice rang out and Bucky physically felt his entire body unwind. Aj came around the corner with her usual bright grin. She had spandex shorts and a t-shirt on. Her dark brown hair messily slung up in a bun and the shine of fresh sweat on her brow. Now that she was allowed back in the gym that's where she spent the bulk of her time. "What're you doing here?"

"I need a reason to come see you, doll?" Bucky replied.

"Well, when I gave FRIDAY permission to add your handprint to my apartment's lock, I meant for you to use it when I was actually here." Aj smirked and bounced to her kitchen to pull a water bottle out of her fridge. "It was my solution to being too lazy to get up off my couch and open the door for you."

Bucky chuckled, "That's a fair point, I guess."

Aj leaned against her counter and after taking a quick sip she spoke, "Are you excited? Today's the day!"

Today _was_ the day. Today was the day he went to Tony's lab and got poked and prodded so the genius could fix his arm. It's not that Bucky didn't want this. He'd trade a _kidney_ to go a day without his shoulder aching to all hell. The thought of being exposed though wasn't exactly filling him with joy.

"Uh, yeah. Definitely." Bucky nodded quickly.

Aj raised an eyebrow at him, " _Yeaaaah_. You sound _real_ enthused."

Bucky quickly pushed himself up off the couch and the fact that Aj didn't even flinch or blink at the sudden, jarring movement eased his nerves. He took in a steadying breath, "I wanted to ask you for a— a favor."

"Oh." Aj's eyes widened then she shrugged, "Anything, Bucky. You know that."

He rubbed his hands against the sides of his sweatpants, "I was wondering if you'd come to the appointment with me? Stark says I'm not allowed to bring anyone, but I figure, you know, he _loves_ you so…"

Aj set her water bottle down and walked over to the small dining room table on the other side of the island counter. The table was covered in books and papers that had piqued his curiosity, but Bucky wasn't about to start digging through her belongings. She came back over with a folder and handed it to him.

Bucky slowly took it from her and flipped it open. Inside were papers upon papers with various notes on human anatomy and shoulder replacement surgeries. It was a thick file too. Steve had complained that Aj was ducking out of Netflix nights with him with the excuse that she was too busy. Was this what she had been doing?

"Bucky, if you thought I wasn't going to be a part of this _every_ step of the way then I have bad news for you." She said with a sheepish look. "I'm afraid you're a big, dumb idiot."

He let out an actual laugh and hung his head in amusement. When he looked back up, Aj was grinning at him impishly. Bucky held the folder up slightly, "You did all this research yourself?"

"Of course. Tony is more engineering. He's gonna make you an amazing arm, but the biology side of it isn't his favorite kind of thing. With Bruce not around I decided to pick up the slack." Aj said in a matter-of-fact tone. She took the folder from his hands and set it on the coffee table beside them. "I mean, I'm no super genius but—"

"No, no." Bucky stopped her from insulting herself. "You're wicked smart, doll. I'm lucky to have you on my case. Luckiest guy on Earth."

Aj scoffed and gave him a light shove, " _Sweet talker_." She let her gaze trail down his body and then back up to his eyes. Bucky felt himself stiffen and his mouth go dry. A simple look from a dame shouldn't make him so weak, but _goddamn_ … "You need to change clothes."

Bucky snapped out of his daze and glanced down at himself. Sweatpants that were oddly tight around his ankles, _joggers according to Steve_ , a t-shirt, and a hoodie. It was hot outside, but the Compound was cool enough, and he didn't think the others would be comfortable seeing him flash his arm. "What's wrong with it?"

"Hey, I _like_ the clean, grunge hobo look." Aj set her hands on his chest and if he wasn't so distracted by her touch then he might've been insulted at her description of him. "But Tony is gonna wanna take a look at your _entire_ arm and shoulder. If you're wearing this then he'll just make you strip, and I know you don't wanna sit in Tony's glass box lab half naked."

Bucky chuckled, "That wouldn't be my idea of a good time." He pressed his lips together. "Thank you, doll. All of this…"

Aj gave him a soft smile, "You don't have to thank me for that. And we're all proud of you, you know? For doing this. I know it makes you uncomfortable, but this is a really good first step."

"I…I know."

"Okay. You're gonna get a gross, sweaty hug now." Aj chuckled and threw her arms around him. Bucky wrapped his own arms around her midsection carefully. Touch was still an uneasy topic for him. A couple weeks ago he had told Aj that she didn't need to ask to touch him anymore. Bucky figured that would be a good step too and he hadn't regretted it. Not one bit. Aj pulled away after a second, "I'm gonna take a shower and get dressed and then I'll meet you in the lab."

Bucky nodded, "Yeah." He took a step away then paused. "Why did Stark tell me I couldn't bring anyone?"

"He didn't want you to bring Steve. _Duh_." Aj replied, then furrowed her brow, "Tony is still upset about…you know."

Bucky did know. It seemed like everyone who lived on this Campus knew about it. What he didn't know was what was going on between the blond and her. Bucky tilted his head slightly, "Can I ask why _you're_ avoiding Steve?"

Aj stiffened and nervously began to fiddle with the metal bracelets around her wrist. His eyes darted down to where two braided bracelets sat above her left one. Most of the blood had been washed out, but a single stain remained. You could see it on the bracelet that represented him, and Bucky thought that was fitting.

"I'm not… _avoiding_ him, per say." Aj shrugged. "I've just been… _busy_." Bucky raised an eyebrow at her, and she sighed. "It's complicated."

"Do you need to talk about it?" Bucky asked. Aj shook her head with a tight-lipped smile. He reached out and tapped under her chin with the side of his knuckle. "I'll see you in the lab."

Bucky walked out the apartment still stewing over his last question. Aj had been avoiding Steve and both him and Steve could see it. It wasn't like Tony who was doing it with a glare. Aj still gave him kind smiles and talked to him when she had to, but she wouldn't do more than that. It was nothing like it used to be, according to Steve, and his blond friend was crawling up the wall in desperation for answers. He wished he could do more to help the scenario, but he wasn't willing to push Aj beyond what she felt comfortable with. Bucky would stay a bystander, at least for now.

* * *

I wanted to get there before Bucky did so I could lecture Tony into reigning in his personality. This was a nerve-wracking thing for the man and the last thing he needed was Tony's sarcastic remarks. It was why I had the folder of all my research held between my teeth while I braided my hair and walked out of the elevator.

"Aj, you hate me!" Pietro yelled loudly from the kitchen island as I walked by. He was leaning on his elbow with a frown. Books and papers lying untouched in front of him. "Why does my sister not have to do this?"

Finished with my braid, I pulled the folder out of my mouth to speak with a chuckle, "She did. She just finished it a week ago and didn't wait until the _last day that it's due_. For someone so fast, you're working _real_ damn slow."

Pietro grumbled in Sokovian and I continued on my path to the lab. I flipped through the contents of my folder one more time making sure I had everything. A lot of work was going to go into his shoulder and since I was far from an expert on the topic I spent extra time finding any sort of information I could. When the soundproof glass doors slid open, a wall of yelling and alarms slammed into me. My eyes snapped up from the folder to see Peter standing on the ceiling pointing to a fire in the corner, Harley was holding a metal block of something that was still sparking in the center of the room, Tony was barking at them while patting a singe mark on his shoulder, and an odd little metal crane sat by the fire spraying it with a fire extinguisher.

At my entrance they all froze and turned to look at me. The only sound now came from the extinguisher and fire alarm overhead. Harley smirked at me, "Oh, hey, Aj. Welcome to our shit show!"

" _Language_." Tony snapped at him.

"Why?" I breathed and moved to a computer to silence the alarm. The alarm that should've been echoing through the entire Compound if there was a fire, and since it wasn't that meant Tony disconnected it. Again. "Just, _why_?"

"Why what?" Peter asked still hanging upside down.

"Why _everything_?" I replied. Harley opened his mouth, but I immediately decided I didn't want to know. I shook my head, "As excited as I am to see you boys, what the _hell_ are you doing in the lab?"

Harley, who had grown again since I last saw him, shrugged, "Tony said we could watch him work on the robot man."

I snapped a glare to Tony who immediately turned around as he found the wall to suddenly be more interesting than me. Peter flipped down, landing on his feet with ease, and gave me a broad smile, "So it's really _James Buchanan Barnes_? The _Howling Commando_? Mj did a report on him in history class last year you know and—"

"Again, I _love_ you boys with my _entire_ heart and soul, and I would gladly _walk into traffic_ for both of you…" I held my arms out to them, one hand on Peter's shoulder and the other on Harley's, "But if you don't get out of this lab in the next five minutes, I'm gonna lose my shit." They gave me sheepish looks and the robot crane rolled over into view chirping and beeping in excitement. "Also, what the _hell_ is that?"

"That's DUM-E." Tony finally decided to join into the conversation. "He's their older brother." Peter and Harley both looked over their shoulders at him in question. "I made him ages ago, then I got him killed when my Malibu home went into the ocean, but then I saved him. Didn't have room in the Tower so he's been staying with Harley in his garage lab."

Harley gave me a thumbs up, "And I brought him along because he's been missing Tony." The crane bobbed its robot arm up and down as if in agreement and my eyes widened. Harley nodded once, "See?"

" _There is so much happening at once_." I mumbled to myself. I set the folder down on the lab counter and turned back to the boys, "Bucky is gonna be here _any_ minute now, and he doesn't need two toddlers staring at him while we poke and prod." They both complained about their ages, but I continued. "Go hang out with Pietro. Tell him I said he could take a break from his report."

Harley gave me a nonchalant shrug while Peter beamed in excitement. They both left, still talking about whatever had gone wrong in the lab, and despite the chaos I couldn't help but smile. Neither boy had any siblings so they had taken their pseudo-sibling bond very seriously despite living in different states.

"The fire was definitely _their_ fault." Tony said.

I turned back around to glare at him, "Well that's what happens when you three play in the lab with no adult supervision."

He opened his mouth to argue, paused, then nodded, "Fair assessment." Tony glanced over at the robot and whirled his finger in the air once, "DUM-E start clean up, yeah?" The drone chirped again and began to move around the room grabbing things that had been dropped to the floor in chaos. Tony shrugged at me, "I can clean the fire thing up after we deal with Barnes."

"Thank you." I said, "Did Dr. Cho drop off her portable x-ray?"

"Yeah, and she said she was sorry she couldn't stick around to help." Tony replied and pointed over to where the large machine sat off to the side. "She did send us a list of doctors that she thinks will be able to help us. I wish Bruce were here, he'd be so much better at this."

I gave him a tight-lipped smile. We all missed Bruce. The last time I had seen him was when I said good-bye to him as he boarded the jet to fight Ultron. I just hoped that wherever he was that he was safe and happy. My fingers were still crossed in hopes that he was taking an extended vacation on some island. The poor guy sure as hell needed it. The main worry though was that Betty would call us to see if we had heard from him because he wasn't even reaching out to her. That had us all anxious.

The doors slid open, and I glanced over to see Bucky standing there. His shoulders were stiff, and he had changed into a white tank top with the hoodie jacket over it. Bucky's hair was pulled up in a half bun and he motioned behind himself, "Is there a reason why Pietro is being attacked by Stark's kids?"

"Speedy Gonzales owes me money. If _this_ doesn't get it in his head, then I'm sending sunshine here next to break his kneecaps." Tony replied. The corner of Bucky's lips twitched up in amusement and I felt myself relax at it. Maybe Tony's remarks weren't so bad. "Now come on, Terminator, let's get that HYDRA hunk of shit welded to your spine looked at."

Or maybe they were.

Tony, ignoring my glare entirely, led Bucky back towards the x-ray machine and motioned for him to strip out of the jacket. I took it from him, and Bucky sat in the seat's chair nervously. His hands clenched and unclenched. Before I could comfort him, Tony spoke up, "Relax, man. We're just taking pictures of your fucked up shoulder. All you gotta do is sit and look pretty."

Surprisingly, I watched as Bucky relaxed to a small degree.

Tony grabbed the lead vests and handed me one before slipping his on. I wrapped the strap around me then Velcro-ed it to the front. Tony set the lead neck piece around my neck and clicked it close in the back before doing his.

"Alright, she said the first few pictures would be shit and we'd have to adjust some of the dials to account for the metal. Otherwise, his arm is just gonna wash the entire thing out." Tony grabbed the remote and pressed down on the red button. Just like Cho had warned, the computer screen, where the picture was saved, showed a bright white blur and the only bones visible were in the bottom right corner away from his arm. "Okay you play with the dials I'm just gonna keep hitting the button."

We worked in tandem. Me making adjustments and Tony snapping a picture after each one. Eventually it got to the point where the glow coming from the metal resembled a small halo around it. We could finally see bone.

"This is amazing." I breathed.

"Yeah, Cho designed this thing herself. It's the next level of x-ray tech."

I moved to the opposite side of the screen where Bucky sat and gave him a smile, "You doing okay?"

"Peachy, doll." He gave me a reassuring smile.

"Alright, we're gonna take pictures at different angles now. You got this one, Tony?" I asked and he nodded. I had Bucky hold his arm up above his head, then I shifted his chair so the camera was getting a side angle instead of a front and back one. I let him set his arm down and we took a few more. "Enough?"

Tony hummed in thought, "I want some focused on his neck and upper back. Shift the bar up." I stepped forward and unlocked the arm of the machine and lifted it up a few inches. "Yeah, there is good. Barnes look up. _Good_. Now tuck your chin to your chest. _Got it_. Now rotate him around, Aj." I had Bucky shift again, so we were getting a front back view again. "Slouch over. And… _got it_. We're done."

Bucky's eyes widened in surprise, "That's it?"

"That's it for the _boring_ part." Tony replied and pulled off all the protective lead. He shot the man a smirk, "Now it's _my_ turn to play. Engineering only."

I rolled my eyes as Tony walked back to the main part of his lab and began to rip off MY lead vest. I jumped in surprise when I felt Bucky's hands at the back of my neck unclipping the lead there. He chuckled, "I thought I was supposed to be the nervous one."

"Thanks." I said and hung up both pieces, "Look, if Tony says something or if he goes too far just let me know and—"

Bucky set his hand on my lower back and offered me the charming smile he usually only shot me when we were hidden in his apartment or mine away from the other Avengers that he was still getting used to. He chuckled, "What? Are you gonna beat him up for me?"

"Absolutely." I grinned.

"Stop flirting and get the hell over here. I'm a busy man."

I rolled my eyes and we walked over to him. Bucky sat down on the stool Tony had grabbed for him, "No, you're not. I know for a fact you took off this _entire_ week to hang out with Harley and Peter since they're out from school."

"Details, details." Tony mumbled. "Can you take your shirt off? I wanna see your back too." Bucky stiffened, but Tony didn't even pause. "FRIDAY, frost the walls and turn on our doorbell."

The glass walls grew white, blocking the view, and I knew the doorbell feature meant people would have to ask for entrance before the doors slid open. While Bucky pulled off his tank top, I gave Tony a small smile and he shrugged nonchalantly.

"Sorry, I thought the tank top would be enough." I said.

Bucky shook his head, "It's fine."

Tony ignored us both and began to look over the arm. He scoffed, "Jesus, did they make this thing in the fucking dark?" He set his hands at Bucky's elbow, lifted it, and then told Bucky to relax his arm. Tony grunted at the weight in his hands, "How heavy is this thing? How have you been able to hold it up?"

"I got used to it." Bucky replied.

"Well, it's no wonder the skin around it looks so raw. It's constantly pulling there." Tony let go of Bucky's arm and focused his attention at where the metal shoulder met his skin. "I wanna video tape this exam so I can refer back to it instead of calling you into my lab all the time. Sound good?" Bucky nodded once. "DUM-E, bring the camera!"

"You're gonna have DUM-E record?" I asked skeptically.

"Who the hell is DUM-E?" Bucky asked at the same time.

Tony shrugged, "He's done it before." The drone rolled over with a lens in its hand and Tony took it from him and replaced the claw with the screw on lens. "Zoom in on the arm and don't touch him. Can I touch you?"

It took Bucky a second to catch the question since it was spoke in the same breath he used to speak to the drone. He cleared his throat, "O—Oh. Yeah. Sure."

Tony began to press his fingers into the flesh around the joint. Bucky's face twisted in discomfort and I quickly stepped forward to grab his right hand. He squeezed it once as Tony began to talk through the exam for the camera, "Alright prosthetic stretches out to the clavicle. I can feel the thin plating in his pectoral muscle that showed on the x-ray, but I can't feel the anchor they attached to his rib. Scapula limits full rotation of the joint. Hindered backward extension of shoulder and both horizontal and vertical abduction. No external rotation whatsoever."

This went on for a few more minutes until he motioned for DUM-E to back away. I nodded once, "You done?"

"Sort of. He's probably gonna need a CT for his spine, but his giant metal arm will screw with any image we take." Tony said and the look in his eyes told me he was mostly talking to himself. "We'll have to fix the shoulder's base then tackle the spine issue."

I twisted my lips, "We can't do it all in one surgery?"

"Nah. It'll have to be two I'm thinking. Maybe three depending on how bad the connections to the spine look."

"Okay, so an ortho surgeon for the shoulder and a neurosurgeon for his back."

"I also think we should put him under anesthesia once here, without cutting on him, just to see how he wakes up from it. If he reacts badly and wakes up as the Winter Soldier he's just gonna muck up any work we did. We need to know about that _before_ we start."

"That's three, maybe four, times of going under." I shook my head. "That's too much."

Tony shrugged, "Yeah for a normal human. He should be fine though. Cap reacted fine to it when he had to go under."

"Wait, wait—" Bucky pulled his hand away from mine so he could hold both up in thought, "Repeat _all_ of that. What are we doing?"

I crossed my arms and gave him a soft smile, "We don't know for sure yet. I don't want to tell you anything until the ortho surgeon we get can confirm, but…" I glanced at Tony and he shrugged at me. "We want to make it so your prosthetic is removable."

Bucky's eyes widened, "Like…Like I could take it off and put it back on whenever?" I nodded in confirmation and he let out a soft sigh, "You really think you can do that?"

"I can most definitely build that." Tony replied. "The question is if we can find a surgeon who will be able to carve out everything HYDRA put in so we can replace it. We're also heavily banking on your knock-off super soldier serum being able to hold it all in place."

"Are you okay with that?" I asked softly.

Bucky nodded, a tired laugh slipping from his lips, and his voice was hoarse, "Yeah. I, uh, yeah, I like that plan."

"Cool. Any other requests?"

"What?"

"Anything else you want for the design?" Tony clarified. He motioned to the arm, "Obviously we're making it removable and I'm gonna make it a hell of a lot lighter, but do you want it to do anything else? Glow in the dark? Spinning rims? XM satellite radio?"

Bucky glanced at me with wide eyes, and I nodded, "He mentioned once that he wished it was darker. A matte color so it isn't so obvious from a distance."

"Great idea. He's a damn fire hazard right now." Tony chuckled. "It's a good thing he refuses to step outside because the moment the sun shines off that thing he's gonna be like a kid with a magnifying glass over an anthill."

Bucky cleared his throat, "Can you…" He hesitated for a second. "Can you make it more sensitive? To touch and temperature?"

Tony bobbed his head in thought, "That's a good idea. I don't know how much I can crank up the sensation since I haven't seen your spine yet, but I can guarantee you it'll be better than what you have now."

"Thank you." Bucky breathed. Tony slapped him on the back once, making him jump, and walked away with a smirk. While Tony fiddled with the x-ray machine, I handed Bucky back his discarded shirt. When I came back with his jacket, Bucky gave me a confused look, "Why is he being so nice to me? He doesn't have to do any of this and after what I did—"

I shook my head and held the jacket behind him to slide his arms in, "Tony's good like that. He sees a problem, and he finds a solution. Plus, he likes you." Bucky gave me a firm look and I chuckled. "Okay, he doesn't hate you."

"Even that seems like a stretch." Bucky mumbled and stood up. "He's just doing this as a favor to you, isn't he?"

"Nope." I said with a smile. "Tony's the kind of guy that takes care of the people he thinks he's responsible for, and since you now live under his roof… he feels responsible for you."

Bucky shook his head, "He doesn't have to do that. I—"

"You're family now, Buck." I chirped and stepped away to start working through my folder and finding an ortho surgeon who will work with us, "Now maybe Tony sees you more as that weird cousin that he loves to hate, but family is family." I winked at him. "Better get used to it, bub."

* * *

Steve leaned against the island counter as Sam spoke. Wanda was on the couch in the living room reading a book while her brother sat at the island counter scribbling in a notebook. Down the hall, Bucky was with Tony and Aj still. He wanted to be in the lab more than anything, but he knew that wasn't for the best right now. Especially since Tony refused to even look at him.

"Our options are limited." Sam shrugged. "Ross is appeased for now, but he's never gonna stop sniffing. We're at a lull in our own case trying to find Strucker. Now may be the best time to act."

Steve nodded, "You're right, but Bucky's in the process of getting his arm fixed. I don't want to add the extra stress of trying to get the government to pardon him."

"Call me crazy, but looking at his life, I think the guy can handle a little stress." Sam responded with a raised eyebrow before bringing his coffee mug to his lips. He cleared his throat afterwards, "Though I don't think the government is gonna write him a pass without something in return."

He rubbed the back of his neck. The government would ask for something in return and it would probably be something ridiculous like having Bucky work for them. Steve wasn't going to let him get tossed to another organization for their agenda. Never again. Sam clicked his tongue and Steve looked back to him.

"I have an idea, but it's a bad one."

"Nothing could be worse than involving Ross."

"We could arrest him. Get him put on trial. United States vs Barnes."

Steve's eyes widened, "Never mind. That's a worse idea."

"Not if he wins." Sam shrugged. "If Barnes is ruled as not guilty then he gets his life back. He won't owe anybody anything. It's a terrible idea, but it has the potential to be an amazing one."

Steve sighed, "High risk, high reward."

"That is how we do it around here." Sam lifted his mug in a ' _cheers'_ like fashion. Steve let the idea roll around in his head a little more. Bucky was innocent. He was a victim in all of this, and if they could just show the public that—prove it to a jury of peers—then it would fix the entire situation. They wouldn't have to sit around waiting for Ross to kick down their door.

They briefly began to go over mission specs when Steve heard Bucky coming down the hall. He turned just as Bucky stepped into the kitchen. His friend spotted him and walked over. Steve offered him a smile, "How'd it go?"

"Good." Bucky nodded and Steve could tell he looked a bit lighter today. He wondered if that had to do with the appointment he just came from. Bucky glanced around before nodding his head toward the elevator, "I'm gonna go change real quick."

"Sure thing." Steve grinned. Bucky began to walk out, and his eyes landed on Sam. He gave the man a small greeting, a brief nod, and Sam responded by winking at him. Bucky's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but he kept moving. Steve glanced over at his friend, "Really?"

Sam smirked, "I wanna see how far I can push. It's a therapist thing. Trust me."

Seconds later, Harley and Peter rushed into the room like a storm and Peter hopped over the couch to start shoveling items into his bookbag. Steve's eyes widened when he spotted the item in Harley's arms. He was carrying a car battery, God knows where the boys grabbed it from, and the kid also had one of Tony's prototype repulsors.

"Harley", Steve called out with a concerned nod, "Don't you think you're a little young to be messing around with that repulsor without Tony?"

Harley gave him a sneer, "Aren't you a little old to be alive?"

Sam literally spit out the coffee he had been drinking in a spray while Steve just stood there in shock. Wanda looked up from her book in surprise and Pietro literally fell off his stool, howling in laughter. Peter slung his bookbag on his back then began to push Harley out, "Sorry Mr. America, Captain, sir!"

The boys disappeared and Steve felt two fingers press against the side of his neck. He sighed and without turning to look spoke, "Sam. What the hell are you doing?"

"Checking for a pulse, man, because that kid just _murdered_ you." Sam snickered.

Steve swatted his hand away with a light glare. He wasn't surprised by the boy's remark and he really didn't take it to heart. Honestly, Steve had always been impressed by how quickly Harley always seemed to have some kind of retort. He didn't think the boys knew what was going on exactly, but they could obviously tell that him and Tony were going through something.

"FRIDAY!" Pietro, who had finally stopped laughing, called out, "Tell Aj I am _dying_ , and it is all _her_ fault."

" _Mr. Maximoff, I have passed along your message and Ms. Bradshaw told me to tell you that you are being a dramatic brat."_ FRIDAY replied. Wanda giggled from the living room while Pietro slumped against the island counter in a theatrical fashion.

"FRIDAY", Pietro said again but now his voice was muffled by the table, "Tell Aj I need help. Can she come out here?"

Steve pushed off the island to straighten out his posture, eyes darting to the hall, but FRIDAY spoke again, " _Ms. Bradshaw requests you to come to the lab_."

Pietro scooped up his belongings and disappeared in a blink. Steve ran a hand through his hair in frustration and leaned back against the counter again. When he glanced over at Sam he noticed the man was staring at him with a raised eyebrow. Steve quickly cleared his throat and crossed his arms, "What?"

"Trouble in paradise?"

Steve rolled his eyes, "Really, Sam?"

"What is going on between the two of you?" Sam questioned firmly. "Seriously."

"Nothing. We're fine."

"When was your last movie night with her?"

Pre-Ultron was the answer, and it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Every time he suggested it, Aj always had a reason why she couldn't. Doing research for Tony, writing lesson plans for the twins, training with Natasha, dinner with Sam. It got to the point where Steve stopped asking because he could see how awkward she felt anytime she named a new excuse.

Steve had tried everything, but Aj seemed content with avoiding him. She was nicer about it than Tony, but anytime he tried to strike up a conversation with her she'd smile and find a way to slip out of it. Steve missed her like hell though.

"You got that pining look on your face so I assume it's been a while since the two of you hung out." Sam hummed. "I know you don't hang out together with Bucky. It's like you guys are divorced parents and Bucky's the poor kid getting bounced back and forth."

Steve shook his head and wished he had an argument to the statement, "I don't know what's going on."

With anything. Steve felt like he had no moves left on the board. His relationship with Tony and with Aj were shadows of what it used to be. The ironic part was, he knew that if Aj would just talk to him she'd have an answer on how to fix things with Tony.

Steve was at a loss of what to do.

* * *

The mass email I had sent out to dozens of Orthopedic surgeons across America was replied to within the hour. As it turns out, when you email people from Tony Stark's account it turned heads. I couldn't give a lot of details of what we needed from them, but the line ' _an Avenger needs major surgery to repair a shoulder joint that has been decimated_ ' got their attention. Every surgeon wanted to be the surgeon that saved an Avenger's arm.

I didn't want just any surgeon though. Finding someone capable would be easy, but I needed more than that. I needed someone who would respect Bucky's privacy and treat this entire case with tact and care. It was why I set up 10 video interviews for tomorrow. Talking to them and looking them in the eye was gonna tell me what I needed to know.

"How many surgeries on YouTube are you gonna watch?" Tony asked from over my shoulder.

I shrugged and hit pause, "YouTube videos taught me how to be a PR manager."

"Learn how to replace a shoulder yet?" Tony smirked. I swiveled in my seat, following him, as he went back to the blueprint he was playing with midair. "That could've been your life, you know?"

I narrowed my eyes, "What do you mean?"

"Medical School. _Doctor_." Tony tore his eyes away from the screen in front of him. He gave me a soft smile. "It's never too late. I'd offer to pay for you to start this Fall, but I know you wouldn't take it. But…if we start working on your application now you could start _next_ Fall." I sighed, but Tony didn't stop. "You'll have to retake the MCAT, your scores expired two years ago, but—"

" _Tony_." I said firmly. "That part of my life has passed. The door is shut."

"The door to learning _never_ shuts." He argued. Tony swiped in the air and the work he was doing disappeared. He set his hand on the counter beside me and leaned on it, "Aj, you _love_ this stuff. I asked you to look up one thing— _one thing_ —for this project and look." Tony motioned with his head toward the thick folder sitting beside me. "You went above and beyond."

I shrugged nonchalantly, "I wanna help Bucky."

"Yeah, but you're having _fun_ learning about the anatomy and finding a solution to this problem."

Tony wasn't wrong that's the sad part of it all. I spent the last week and a half reading a hundred studies and case reports and watching dozens of shoulder surgeries online, and yes it was my passion to help Bucky that pushed me forward, but I enjoyed every little fact I learned. Being a student was fun and I loved it. It was why going through four years of undergraduate without a single friend was so easy. I threw myself into my degree. It was all I needed.

"Aj, listen to me", Tony reached out and set a hand on my elbow, "You're smart, and that intelligence was wasted in that damn ring you got stuck in. Now though? _Nothing_ is holding you back. We love and support you and we'd be _ecstatic_ to see you thrive." Tony raised his eyebrows at me twice, "Dr. Aimee Jane Bradshaw. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

I let out a small laugh and reached out to squish his cheeks with one hand. Tony just kept looking at me in a smug, knowing manner. With a sigh, I gave him a smile, "I'm content with what I have. I don't need a medical degree. Now go back to designing an arm."

Tony nodded in my hand and when I let go he went back to his station. Swiping in the air to bring back all his screens. I turned back to my own screen and hit play on the video. It went on for another 37 seconds before I hit pause again and turned to Tony. He raised an eyebrow at me curiously.

"I have an idea for the shoulder, but it's… _experimental_. I read some studies on extreme shoulder replacements, but they were all limited by the human's body healing capabilities and the technology." I said quickly. Tony looked intrigued and nodded for me to continue. I shifted in my seat, bit down on my lip, "I don't know if it would work."

Tony grinned in excitement, "Nobody ever does. Not until you try."

* * *

Bucky put on real clothes. With everything Steve, Aj, and Tony were doing for him the least he could do was put in an effort on his part. The gray sweater and jeans fit him well. Apparently, the Black Widow was slowly filling up his closet, and honestly he had never been more baffled by anything in his entire life. He had no idea what that was about, but he wasn't gonna question it. If Natasha Romanoff wanted him to wear a dress and heels he'd do it without question. The name of the game was ' _don't piss off the deadly assassin'_.

That didn't change the fact that he wasn't crazy about what he had on. It wasn't really his style, but the clothes were nice in quality. Considering he only had one shirt to his name before he got here, he had no room to complain.

" _No, no! Hold it up higher_!"

Bucky, who was on the third floor making his way to meet Steve in the game room past the dorms, paused at the young voice. He stepped off to the side and walked out onto the side balcony that faced the back lawn of the Compound. This was the side with the patio and outdoor pool, but the two kids were standing in the open lawn messing with something. The taller of Tony's kids had something metal wrapped around his arm that was connected to a battery sitting on the ground. He held his arm up, pointing at nothing, while the shorter of the two was recording him on a phone.

" _You ready? On three! One, two, three_ —"

The taller one shot a glowing ball of something out of the metal around his arm into the air, but the blast made the arm swing back and slam into his face. The kid dropped like a bag of potatoes.

" _Shit_." Bucky gasped. Without thinking, he set his hands on the railing and jumped. Bucky's feet hit the patio, he heard the crumbling of brick, but then he was sprinting out into the lawn.

"Peter?" The shorter kid was shaking him. "Hey, are you still alive?"

Bucky slid on his knees to the kid's side and the shorter one gasped in surprise. Peter, apparently, had a gash in his left eyebrow and an already forming bruise. Bucky quickly felt for a pulse and found one with ease. With a groan, the kid's eyes fluttered open.

"Hey, you alright?" Bucky questioned.

Peter's eyes narrowed, obviously still in a daze, " _Jesus_?"

Bucky blinked in surprise and leaned back on his legs. Peter slowly sat up and the other kid shook the injured one's shoulder, "Dude, Jesus has a _robot arm_."

"Stop calling me Jesus." He shook his head and pulled his sleeves down. Peter's eyes slowly widened in surprise and Bucky motioned to his head, "You're bleeding."

Peter lifted a hand to his face and flinched, "Too much power, Harley. We gotta bring it down a bit."

"No shit." Harley replied then held up his phone, "I got it on video though. It's _hilarious_."

"Can I get you inside before your dad comes out here and loses it?" Bucky questioned.

Both boys glanced at each other, meeting one another's eyes, then turned back to look at him. They both nodded, but Harley was the one to speak, "Yeah, sure, wouldn't want _dad_ to see us like this."

Peter was still bleeding pretty bad, face wounds and all that, but before he could do anything about it Harley shrugged out of his button up shirt, wadded it up into a ball, and then shoved it into Peter's face. The kid held it to his face while pulling himself off the ground.

"You dizzy? Can you walk?" Bucky asked.

"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks, Mr. Jesus."

He couldn't help but chuckle to himself while walking the kids back, "It's Bucky, kid."

The back of the Compound was off limits to the public, only the front of the first two floors being public space, so he wasn't worried about being spotted by someone he shouldn't be. Harley bounced beside him, "Hey, how's your arm work? What's the power source? Is it biological or is it built into the system itself?"

"Uh, I have no idea." Bucky admitted.

"Does it need recharging?"

"Well, I—"

"What sort of additional features does it have?"

"Not—"

"Do guns pop out of it? Or other weaponry?"

"No."

The prodding should've been a lot, but Bucky just found it amusing. Harley didn't ask anything with an ulterior motive or mal intent. The kid was just curious. Excitable. Passionate. Bucky chuckled to himself until Peter wobbled a little. Both him and Harley froze and reached out to make sure he didn't fall.

"Dude, shouldn't you be healing by now?"

"I am." Peter replied, and pulled the shirt back, it was soaked with blood, "Cut was just deep. I think it stopped bleeding, but I already lost a lot."

Bucky scooped up the kid and Harley told FRIDAY to tell their dad that they were heading to the medical bay. The kid weighed nothing, and he hopped into the elevator with Harley beside him. He nodded once, "You still feel okay?"

"Yeah, just a little dizzy. Thanks for holding me, Mr. Jesus." Peter smiled.

"Peter, don't call me Jesus."

The elevator doors opened, and it was a quick walk to the medbay where Tony and Aj were already waiting. Bucky set Peter down on the bed and Aj was quick to pull the shirt away and look at the wound. Tony, on the other hand, had his hands on his hip, "I told you two _not_ to mess with the repulsor without me there to check your math!"

"We're sorry." Harley said sheepishly. "We checked our numbers twice, and we thought Peter would be strong enough to handle that amount of blowback."

Tony glanced over at Peter, motioning with his arm, "He could've lost his eye if that hit were any lower! His healing ability isn't gonna do shit if he has no eye to heal!"

This was the third time he was hearing something about a healing or strength ability and Bucky was beginning to think he was missing a piece of a puzzle. Aj waved her hand at him and he looked over, "Hey, can you look in that cabinet over there? I need the suture kit and alcohol."

Bucky quickly did what she asked. Behind him, he could hear Peter talking, "His robot arm is _so_ cool, Aj. I can't wait to tell May that I met Jesus Christ and he has a metal arm."

"Peter, you're Jewish."

Bucky came back over and Aj snickered, while looking over the kid's head to grin at him. He handed her the items and Aj went to work cleaning up the wound that had stopped bleeding finally. She spoke while cleaning, "It's really not that bad, but I'm gonna put in one stitch to help the healing along, okay Pete?"

"You never told me you knew how to suture." Bucky said softly. Tony was still scolding Harley in the background.

Aj shrugged and grabbed the small vial of local anesthetic. She drew back just a little then after warning Peter about a small pinch, she stuck it by the wound. Aj glanced at him briefly, "It never came up. We didn't talk about first aid over the phone."

"We talked about odd skills though."

"I used to suture myself up after some fights. Would suture others too." Aj replied and prepped her needle. "Never had such nice materials though. Definitely no anesthetic. Once I sutured a gash on my leg with _dental floss_."

Peter sat patiently as Aj quickly put in a single stitch. The kid beamed up at Aj as she cleaned the mess around them. When she moved to throw away the trash, he stuck his lower lip out in a pout then pointed to his forehead. Aj rolled her eyes in good nature then leaned over and placed a small peck above his wound.

Tony whipped around and pointed at the bed, "And _you_! As soon as your head gets screwed on right, which shouldn't be long, _Spider-man_ , then I'm ripping you a new one too."

Bucky paused in alarm. He held up one hand, glanced from the kid in the bed then to Tony then back to the kid, "He's Spider-man?"

"That's a secret." Peter grinned in a dopey manner while holding his finger up to his lips.

Bucky had seen the red and blue hero all over the news, but he never would've guessed that the puppy dog type kid lying in front of him would be said hero. Harley came to sit by the bed and Aj wandered back over to talk with them. Tony, on the other hand, caught his eye and nodded toward the door. Bucky followed him over curiously.

"Thanks for watching idiot 1 and 2." Tony nodded once.

"I was passing by. Coincidence." Bucky shrugged. Tony hummed in thought and he motioned back to the boys, "They're, uh, they're good kids. It's obvious where they get their love for science."

Tony stared at him, blinked once, then nodded, "Yeah, they definitely get that reckless passion for experiments from the _Stark_ side."

"I don't mean to ask, but, uh…" Bucky began awkwardly.

"Pepper isn't their mom. They have _different_ moms actually." Tony answered with a shrug. "Haven't spoken to them in ages."

Bucky shook his head, "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up a sore topic."

"No, no. Not at all." Tony clapped him on the back again once then pointed at him with the same hand, "My past is just that. _My past_." There was a weight in his words that Bucky wondered if he was reading too far into. Tony gave him a smirk, "Energy is better spent on the present. Can't change the past, but you can change the future."

Bucky's mouth felt dry, "R—Right."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go yell at my sons a little more." Tony chuckled and walked away. Bucky stood in the doorway and watched as the man stood at the end of the bed with his hands on his hips. Tony Stark was an enigma. He was also nothing like his father. Sure, Bucky could see that drive for science, for knowledge, but Tony had a passion that he never saw in Howard.

"I'm taking you upstairs and you can sit in the corner with DUM-E while Aj and I work. Dunce caps for both of you." Tony said with a small smirk while the boys in front of him laughed. He only had love and care in his brown eyes.

Tony Stark had a passion for family.

Bucky's thoughts were interrupted when Aj wandered back over to him. He offered her a smile and when she looped her arm through his to pull him away, Bucky let out a soft sigh of content. Months ago, Bucky considered any day where he wasn't actively fighting the darkness in his mind a good day. His best days were ones where his nightmares only haunted him for half the day, and he got to talk to Aj on the phone. Never, _never_ , would he gave guessed he'd ever have good days like today. He hardly deserved it, but he was so damn thankful.

"I like your outfit." She hummed.

"Yeah?" Bucky chuckled.

Aj shrugged, "Nat has really good taste. She's 75% of my wardrobe."

"What's the other 25%?"

"Clothes I steal from the guys." She squeezed his arm. Bucky smiled down at her and let her drag him wherever she wanted. They got back onto the main communal floor, but right before they stepped out of the elevator, he heard a familiar voice. Bucky pulled Aj back then hit the button to take them up one more floor. Aj gave him a curious look, "You okay?"

Bucky opened his mouth, hesitated, then answered, "Steve was in the living room."

Her eyes briefly widened, but she gave him a soft smile and nod. He didn't like the fact that Aj was avoiding his best friend. He saw the pain and frustration it caused the blond, but Bucky also saw the pain that flashed across Aj's face anytime she fumbled out an excuse. He didn't know her thought process, but he knew he hated seeing that look on her face. Maybe Bucky wasn't as much of a bystander as he thought.

"Thanks." Aj said softly. "Thanks for being there for Pete too."

They stepped off the elevator onto the fourth floor and Bucky shrugged, "It was nothing. They're good kids. Tony is…Tony is a really good father." Aj tilted her head slightly and he cleared his throat. "I just mean…I never had Howard pegged as the soft and comforting kind so Tony must get that from his mom." The brunette's lips curled up into a slow smile and Bucky wasn't entirely sure what it stemmed from. He found himself babbling again, "They don't call Pepper Potts mom, right?"

"Oh, Bucky." Aj cooed and set her hand against the side of his face. Her fingers scratched at the scruff on his jaw and he almost melted in place until she suddenly tapped said hand against his cheeks a couple times. "You are _so_ cute when you're being gullible."

"When I'm— Wait, _what_?" Bucky blinked and just watched as she walked toward her apartment door. He chuckled under his breath and leaned against the corner he stood by. Bucky called out to her, "You know, you're the _only_ person I'd let call me cute and gullible then just walk away."

Aj glanced over her shoulder with a smile that reassured him of his statement. He'd let his girl get away with murder. She shrugged with a shake of her head, "Oh, come on. I'm not that special."


	2. A Band-Aid on a Bullet Wound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Howdy hey here we go! I have no thing to say other than the usual pls leave me words k thx babes

* * *

* * *

_"The older you get the better you get unless you are a banana." -unknown_

* * *

"Nat, what do you think?"

"… I think I've never been more disappointed in you."

Despite the phrase being my absolute worst nightmare, all I could do was widely grin at the ex-assassin who looked like she was contemplating killing me in the middle of this high class department store in front of God and everyone. I glanced back at the shirt I held in my hands. It was a pastel pink, short sleeve, Hawaiian styled shirt with simple, cartoon dinosaurs decorating it.

"I think it's cute!" I cooed and let my hand run down the front of the shirt again. It was a soft, cool material. Perfect for a super soldier that runs hot on the regular.

Natasha raised an eyebrow at me, stepping closer, "Why did I let you come with me today?"

"Because you _looooove_ me." I sang and her lips quirked up in a smirk. That was victory enough for me. I held it out to the store clerk who was following us. She gave Natasha a questioning look, but, when the red head reluctantly nodded, she took it from my hands. I grinned, "Hey, you're the one who told me to find clothes for the warmer weather since you're donating all our winter stuff."

"Yes, but I assumed I didn't have to clarify that the clothes should be _good_."

I continued to flip through the racks, "Jokes on you because Bucky's gonna love it, and I think it's adorable."

Natasha snorted, "Adorable is the aesthetic the former Winter Soldier is aiming for, I'm sure." She flicked me on the nose lightly as she walked by me to a new rack of clothes and ignored me sticking my tongue out at her in a very Clint like fashion. "And that's if you can get him out of sweats and his comfort hoodie."

"He wore a sweater you bought for him yesterday! And jeans!" I argued.

"Yeah, and he _immediately_ got blood on the sweater."

I twisted my lips, unable to fully deny that, "In his defense, that was Pete and Harley's fault…and Tony a little for leaving them unsupervised in the first place."

We quietly dug through the racks when Wanda wandered back over to us. She had been hesitant about coming out with us. It seemed like the Compound had become sort of a security blanket for her. Wanda looked much calmer now than she did in the first couple stores we visited. Rather than slouching in on herself, she stood at her full height now with shoulders pulled back and head held high. The teen held up two maxi dresses for us to look at, "Which one do you think is prettier?"

"Well, I think—"

"Ignore her." Natasha interrupted me. "She thinks Hawaiian shirts are back in style."

I scoffed, "You say that like the Avengers are capable of looking bad in anything. Y'all are half ' _gang of superheroes_ ' and half 'g _aggle of supermodels_ ' for crying out loud. We could make a fucking calendar."

Natasha, ignoring me with ease, studied both dresses with a critical eye. She reached out to touch both, then hummed, and motioned to the one on the left. It was black with loose sleeves and a sloping neckline. She motioned for the clerk to take it while speaking, "We need to get your brother some things as well."

Wanda smiled, "Not to stir the pot, but Pietro would love a Hawaiian shirt as well."

"Why do I even try?" Natasha mumbled while I clapped my hands eagerly. I pulled the teen back over to where I found the first shirt and we flipped through others to find one for her brother. After Wanda picked out a blue and light purple shirt with dark palm trees, Natasha came back over with a sigh, "This means we have to get one for Clint too otherwise he'll pitch a fit."

With a slow growing smirk, I spoke, "So… I guess that means we should just go ahead and get one for everyone then?"

Natasha blinked at me with barely concealed defeat, "I suppose so, Aj."

As we picked out more of the cursed shirts, Natasha shooting down the really bad ones I suggested just to get a rise out of her, my phone began to ring. I touched Wanda's shoulder as I scooted past her and took a few steps away to answer the call from Clint.

"Hey, what's up, man?"

" _Kid! I've missed you. How's the Compound_?"

"It's the usual." I shrugged. "How's the Playground?"

Clint groaned, " _Babysitting is about as fun as it sounds_."

"Aw, don't say that." I said in mock concern. "I'm sure Coulson is having a _lot_ of fun babysitting you!"

He scoffed in return and I chuckled. Clint was there babysitting inhumans? To be honest, I wasn't really sure what was going on. They were keeping it under wraps, but I expected no less of a SHIELD mission. Nobody seemed overly concerned about it, so I didn't push on the subject.

" _Anyways, I called to ask you a quick question."_ Clint chimed. " _Why is Steve dying from a shattered shoulder?_ "

"What!?" I asked in panic. The only words that really caught my attention were ' _Steve'_ and ' _dying'_. I could literally feel my heartrate pick up, but my idiot brain finally began to register the rest of the words. They sounded familiar. "W—Wait. I, uh, that's me." I nodded and let out a breath of relief. "I had a bunch of interviews with surgeons this morning and I wanted them to answer questions about the situation, but I couldn't explain that it was _Bucky_ with the super healing so…"

Clint laughed, " _So you told them Steve was dying!?"_

" _No_!" I barked. "I just said he shattered his shoulder and tore up everything. Beyond repair. That we're looking for replacement options."

" _Oh, man_." Clint howled in laughter and if I could reach through the phone and punch him I would. " _PR is gonna hate you when they find out you're at fault_."

I paused in confusion, "What?" I pulled the phone away from my ear, still hearing his voice a little bit, and pulled up my news app. My notifications for it had been turned off during the month I was on my own and I had forgotten to turn it back on. The number one trending topic on every single person's mind, apparently, was that Steve Rogers had been severely injured in the field and was now lying on his death bed looking at amputation as his only chance of survival. I groaned, "Oh, _fuck_."

Natasha walked over and held up her phone, "Tony is calling me looking for you."

"Thanks for the heads up." I said into the phone. Clint just laughed some more, and I hung up on him. Natasha smirked in amusement and I stuck my lower lip out in a pout, "I don't think this is very funny."

"Everyone else does." She replied.

"Your friend is on his _death bed_ , Nat. Show a little more concern." I groaned and wandered back over to where Wanda was still flipping through shirts. This situation wasn't ideal, but it was much better than the world finding out about Bucky. Plus, Steve wasn't actually dying so that made me feel infinitely better. Clint was right though. PR was gonna _ream_ me.

I quickly typed out a text to Tony and he replied that I should check his email. When I opened my app, which was already hooked up to his account, I was greeted by tons of emails from various doctors I had never heard of. It seemed like every surgeon in America wanted to be the hero that saved the Captain's life.

A snap notification interrupted my moment of mild panic, and I grinned at who it was from. His name in my phone was ' _Sergeant Dreamboat'_ and when I opened the snap it was a picture of Steve digging around in the fridge with a caption that read, _'I heard you put Stevie on his death bed, doll'_.

Natasha leaned over my shoulder, "Holy hell, Barnes is on _Snapchat_?"

"Yeah, I showed it to him about a week ago." I chuckled.

"And he didn't friend me?" She scoffed and pulled out her own phone. Wanda wandered over curiously.

I shrugged while typing out a mock apology to him, "He never sends me pictures of his face, but I can't tell if that's because he doesn't want to or he can't figure out how to flip his camera."

"He does." Wanda giggled. "I showed him how to use filters the other day."

"He's friends with you on Snap?" Natasha asked. She nodded and the red head scoffed again, "Well, now my feelings are hurt."

I flipped the camera to take a picture of a grinning Wanda and a glaring Natasha then sent it to him warning him that he was now officially on the Black Widow's shit list. Within the minute, he sent me back a picture of himself making a sheepish look and I let out a small laugh. Bucky was doing so, so well. It made me stupid happy. Ridiculously so.

"Oh, Nat!" I looked up from my phone and she raised an eyebrow at me, " _Jean jacket_." Her face fell into mute exhaustion and even Wanda gave me skeptical look. I just nodded firmly, "Bucky needs a jean jacket."

* * *

Clint had been through trials of fire all throughout his life. He's had to limp back to his pick-up location with a broken leg after a mission gone wrong. He's held off a team of 12 HYRDA agents while Natasha hacked their system with only three arrows and his plucky attitude. He had even arm wrestled Thor and had only felt like crying for five minutes after the god slammed his hand down so hard it threw him from the table.

The point was Clint was a _master spy_.

He would _not_ give in.

He would _not_ lose without a fight.

"Like Cap likes to say, kiddo, _I can do this all day_." Clint said while keeping his dry eyes as wide open as he could. Star sat across from him, cross legged and focused, her golden eyes unblinking. This lasted thirty more seconds before Clint blinked his burning eyes with a groan. The little girl giggled, showing off her dimples, and he shook his head in defeat. "You used Asgardian magic to win, didn't you?" Star giggled again and shook her head, curls flying around her face. "You definitely did, and now you must pay. _Lucky_!"

Clint whistled loudly and seconds later his dog rushed through the door whipping around a spray of drool. Star squealed as Lucky tackled the girl with kisses. He grunted and pushed himself off the floor brushing off the back of his pants.

"Stay in here, kiddo." Clint called out before walking out of the room to look for Coulson who had texted him earlier. The Playground was nice. As far as SHIELD bases went, it was one of the best. However, he had gotten used to living at the Compound and boy were they very different.

He greeted agents as he passed them. It didn't take long to get to the office at all. Clint knocked on the doorframe and Coulson looked up from whatever he was working on to meet his gaze. He waved him in.

"I hear Captain Rogers is dying—"

"Nah." Clint waved and dropped down into the seat in front of his desk. "Aj is working on trying to get Barnes' arm fixed and since she can't use _his_ name she used Steve's and you know how the media gets…"

Coulson chuckled, "Right. Torn rotator cuff turns into life or death operation."

"Speaking of, when is Simmons getting back from the mission with Daisy and Kate? I think Aj was trying to get in touch with her for some opinions."

"Simmons reached out." Coulson nodded. "Through email."

"Did they finally have a plan?"

"Maybe?" Coulson furrowed his eyebrows. "Last I spoke to them Simmons seemed very excited about whatever Aj emailed her about." Clint bobbed his head but stopped when Coulson pointed at him from across the desk. "Now how is _my_ plan coming along?"

Clint hung his head back with a groan, "Coulson—"

"Barton, the men we saved Star from are knocking down doors looking for her, and the government is asking for a list of known inhumans. Star isn't an inhuman so I don't wanna put her on that list, but if I don't they're gonna think I'm hiding something."

He shrugged with narrowed eyes, "Aren't we kind of hiding something?"

" _Barton_."

"We called Thor." Clint sighed, and it wasn't a lie. After dealing with the ' _Aj bleeding to death_ ' scenario, they had immediately called Thor the only way they knew how. "We rang the damn bell, but he isn't answering."

When Thor first came around, he gave them a thick, metal, ancient looking bell and said if they ever needed him to ring it. Clint had a mountain of jokes on the fact that the god of thunder left them a _bell_ to call for him, but it had come in handy. They ring the bell, Asgard's doorman Heimdall hears it, and then he passes the message along to Thor. Problem was, the Asgardian doorbell wasn't opening any doors this time around.

"Did you try again?" Coulson questioned.

"Listen, I rang that thing until Tasha threatened my life for ringing it too much." Clint replied. There was a good chance that Heimdall was going to come down to Earth just to beat the shit out of him for touching the bell that often. "We don't know what's going on up there, but Thor is busy."

Coulson rubbed at his face in exhaustion, and he didn't blame the man. SHIELD business was always stressful and since Fury had disappeared off the face of the planet again it left Coulson scrambling. He had Maria Hill to put out fires and juggle missions, but there was still a lot for them to do.

Clint leaned forward, elbows on knees, "Seriously, Coulson, just say the word and Tash and I will stick around here longer. We'd be more than happy to pick up SHIELD missions."

"I appreciate that." Coulson nodded once, "But we can't. We can't risk the public tying any Avenger directly to SHIELD business. SHIELD can be back-up and clean up, but anything more and we become a target."

"Coulson—"

Coulson gave him a pointed look, "I'm serious. The United Nations is starting to push an anti-inhuman agenda. We're fighting that, but the step after this is putting the Avengers on a leash."

"How close are they to full registration?" Clint asked solemnly.

" _Too close_." Coulson said in irritation. "Taking the tainted fish pills off the market has slowed the influx, but if we have one more inhuman caused disaster…"

Clint nodded in understanding. They were walking a very, very thin line. Every government in the world was searching for a reason to get inhumans or the Avengers in their control. After Ultron and Sokovia, boy had they tried, and SHIELD was able to dodge that bullet but how many more quick thinking political moves did they have left?

"Maybe we should move Star to the Compound." Clint suggested. His friend's eyes widened almost comically, and he just shrugged in response. "Listen, we're already hiding Bucky Barnes. Why not one more stray? You know we can protect her and when Thor eventually does show up, she'll be ready for pick-up."

Coulson still looked unconvinced, but he also looked like he saw the potential merits of it. While he thought it over, Clint leaned back in the single seat couch and threw his feet onto the edge of the desk. Coulson shot him a look but didn't swat his legs away.

"Also, I've been thinking." Clint set his hands behind his head, interlocking his fingers.

"That's never good to hear."

Clint ignored the jab, "I think I know how Star's visions work." Coulson raised his eyebrows, and he continued with a grin. "I think they're 50/50 moments. The future is always changing right? So, she can't draw anything concrete with that. But… what she can draw is the fork in the road." His friend paused and Clint recognized the wheels turning in Coulson's eyes. "Star draws a moment in time where the future can go in one of two ways. Like with Aj… she got left on a basement floor with a _bullet in her spleen_." Clint didn't even like saying the sentence. "She either lived or died, but either option would shape Tash's future."

It shaped _all_ their futures.

"You…might be onto something." Coulson hummed.

Clint smirked, "It happens from time to time."

Coulson chuckled and opened his mouth to speak, but instead he smiled. His eyes dragged to something behind him, and Clint watched him raise his hand in a little wave. Clint turned around in his seat to see Star standing in the doorway with a shy smile. He grinned and jumped out of his seat, "Are you here to challenge me again!?" Star giggled and with overexaggerated movements he threw his arms up with a roar, " _Here I come_!"

Star cackled in excitement and ran down the hall. Clint jogged after her and when he got close enough, he scooped her up and held her over his shoulder. He gripped her tightly and spun a few times making her squeal. She still wouldn't talk to him, but he hoped he could get her to trust him by the end of the day. The more he learned about Star the easier it would be to get her home. He also made a mental note to text Steve and have him ring the doorbell again.

54th time is the charm, right?

* * *

It was interesting to watch Steve and Bucky interact with one another. Despite spending so much time apart, it was easy to see that the men had a rhythm. Something told Sam that Steve was a little more cautious now than he had been in the past, and Bucky was a little more timid, but considering the situation it was expected. Sam also found their mannerisms to be an interesting contrast to one another.

Both men had the super soldier serum running through their veins. Granted, Bucky had a HYDRA knock off version of what Erskine had created, but either way both men were enhanced. The product of their training was different though. Steve seemed to always be moving. Even if he was just sitting on the couch, the man would have his finger bouncing against his leg or drumming on a surface. It was like the serum had left him with energy to spare, and it came out in repetitive movements. Bucky was the entire opposite. When he sat down, the man became a statue. His ability to remain still was almost otherworldly. If you weren't sitting right next to him then you'd worry the man wasn't even breathing.

Sam leaned against the wall watching the two soldiers out of time in the kitchen. Bucky was sitting at the island on his phone, stock still, wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans. His long hair was pulled out of his face. On better days, he pulled his hair back in a half bun. On worse days, he just let it hang around his face. Across from him Steve leaned against the counter eating a sandwich.

"Hey, hand me a banana." Bucky said gruffly without even looking up from his phone. Steve hummed and stepped back to the counter behind him to pull one off the bunch. He held it out to his friend and Bucky looked up in time to take it. He gave the fruit a confused once over before skeptically peeling it open. The blond took another bite of his sandwich and just watched as his friend took a bite out of the fruit only to freeze up. With a disgusted groan, Bucky grabbed a napkin from the center of the island and spat the bite into it. "What the _fuck_ was that?"

Steve nodded once, "Yeah, they changed bananas."

"What the hell do you mean _they changed bananas_?" Bucky scoffed, his Brooklyn accent punching through with every word. Steve nodded again, and the dark haired man scoffed, "The future's a _goddamn_ nightmare." Bucky tossed the banana onto the table and glared at his friend. "And thanks for the warning, punk."

Steve tucked a bite of sandwich into his cheek and smirked in amusement. Again, Sam let his eyes bounce back and forth between the two before he stepped toward them with a chuckle.

"I don't need another jackass from the 40's busting on my favorite fruit." Sam called out. Steve let out a laugh while Bucky hummed once. He could still tell that the man had no idea how to behave around him. Sam didn't want to baby the grown ass man though. Bucky had enough of that. He needed someone to act like a normal human around him.

"Listen, I'll give modern times the win for entertainment and communication, but they fucked up a perfectly fine fruit with whatever the hell these things are." Steve motioned to the banana Bucky had tossed onto the island.

Sam scoffed, "You're sounding your age, Cap." He shook his fist with a large frown, " _Back in my day, bananas were sweeter, and I could buy a poodle skirt wearing dame a coke for only a quarter_."

"I don't know what the hell a poodle skirt is so I'm gonna assume you have the wrong era. _Again_." Steve replied.

Bucky surprised him by speaking up with a smirk, "Yeah, and a coke would only cost you a nickel. Not that Stevie had much luck getting dames to let him buy them anything."

"Hilarious." Steve scoffed, but he wore a bright grin on his face.

Sam's phone went off and when he pulled it out, he recognized the number belonging to an old friend who was calling him back. He held it up, "I gotta take this. You two old timers don't go breaking a hip on me, alright?"

Steve flipped him off and Sam snickered to himself before jogging over to the elevator. He answered the phone, "Muneeba! Are you here already?"

" _I am_." The familiar voice answered calmly through the line. " _I'm walking into the lobby right now. You did not exaggerate at all about this campus, Sam._ "

"Told you." Sam chuckled and hit the button for the first floor. "Give me two seconds and I'll meet you down there."

He said quick good-byes then tucked his phone back into his jean pocket. Muneeba Khan was a licensed mental health counselor he had known for a very long time. She lived in Jersey City, which was a bit of a drive, but she was the best when it came to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Psychoanalysis. Tony Stark could hire any psychologist in the country, but the list of people he trusted to deal with the Avengers' stacking mental problems was very short.

Sam got to lobby, the private elevator dropping him off in the back, and he briskly walked to the busy lobby. As per usual, the building was busy. It always was during the day. Sam spotted Muneeba Khan near the receptionist desk. She wore a dark gray pant suit with a lilac hijab that matched the button up shirt under her blazer. A young girl stood beside her, but Sam's attention was focused on the security guard arguing with her.

He jogged over and cleared his throat with a glare, "Do we have a problem here?"

"Mr. Wilson." The security guard startled, "Is this your gue—"

"Yeah, it is. We good?" He replied sharply. The security guard mumbled something under his breath before quickly rushing away. Sam scoffed then turned back to his old friend, "Muneeba, I'm so sorry if he was bothering you."

The older woman gave him a warm smile and set a hand over her heart while giving him a warm smile, "Don't you worry so much about it. Sam, have you met my daughter yet?" Muneeba motioned to the young woman beside her. The girl had dark hair pulled back in two braids with bangs and dark eyes filled with excitement. Her round face was glowing with a smile. "This is Kamala. She's out of school today and is _such_ a big fan of the Avengers."

" _Ami_!" Kamala's eyes widened in embarrassment.

"What? It's true."

Sam chuckled, "Well, how about I give you two the tour and maybe we can run into Captain America, huh?"

He motioned for the women to follow him and started the official tour of the Compound. Sam put on his best face because he was really hoping to convince the therapist to set up shop in one of the offices here for the Avengers. Specifically, for Bucky Barnes. The guy needed someone official to talk to and Sam was thinking ahead. The more he thought about it the more he really thought they'd be eventually going to trial. If Bucky started seeing a therapist now it would go a long way.

It took about twenty-five minutes to show them the public spaces of both buildings, and then he took them up to the second floor on the recreational building where her office would be. It was a large one nestled past the PR team. Sam swung the door open and motioned to the room.

"Wow, this is much larger than the one back in Jersey City." Muneeba gasped while looking around. "You're truly desperate aren't you, Sam?"

"For an amazing therapist like you? Absolutely." Sam put his hands together in a pleading motion. "Seriously, Muneeba. You name your price and I meet it. We got some real head cases here for you."

She made a disapproving noise, "You know I don't like it when you refer to patients that way."

"Ami, can I go to the cafeteria?" Kamala tugged on her mom's sleeve. She gave the young girl a look, but Kamala just grinned, "I promise. There and back!"

Sam chuckled, "It's really fine. Safest building in the state."

"There and back." Muneeba agreed. Kamala bounced in place excitedly before jogging out of the room. The woman turned back to him and hummed, "So which Avenger needs help?"

"To be honest, all of them." Sam replied dryly. "But there's…one in particular that I have in mind. He's been through…He's been through a lot, Muneeba, and that's a huge understatement." He stepped away to lean on the front of the desk. Sam crossed his feet at his ankles, "I'm also gonna be real with you. There are dangers. This patient in particular is at a huge risk of sudden relapses in judgement and violent episodes."

Muneeba nodded in thought for a moment, "Is this patient open to therapy?"

"I haven't talked to him about that in particular yet." Sam replied, "But he's trying. He's trying to heal. I'll give him that."

"I'd like to meet him once. Talk to him, one on one, and assess his goals." Muneeba replied. "As for any other Avenger, if there is no safety risk then I can take them on outright. But first things first, I need to talk to the patient for a few moments. I hope you can understand."

Sam nodded, "Of course, Muneeba. I want you to be comfortable with this too. I'd have to ask you to sign a non-disclosure agreement first. It's not that I don't trust you but—"

"But lawyers pitch a fit when you skip their hurdles." Muneeba chuckled. Sam sent a quick text to Steve telling him to breach the topic with Bucky, knowing it'd be best for it to come from him, then turned back to his old friend to make conversation. They had met years ago at a convention and worked together on a few small projects and group therapy sessions. It had been a while since he had seen her before. Sam was happy to see the woman was doing well.

"I knew you had kids, but I didn't realize your daughter had gotten so old. Last I heard you talking, she was just starting the 4th grade." Sam chuckled.

"Yes, she's shooting up like a root." Muneeba said lovingly. "She's been… a little distant lately, but…"

Sam shrugged, "I'm sure that's just her age. _Teenagers_. You have an older son too don't you?"

"Aamir." Muneeba nodded. "He's still looking for work at the moment."

"Well, it's rough out there. I'm lucky the Avengers picked me up otherwise I'd be panhandling out on the side of the street."

She rolled her eyes, "Oh, I'm sure, Mr. Wilson." Sam motioned to the desk and pulled the non-disclosure agreement paperwork out of his inner jacket pocket to set down. Muneeba glanced over it before signing at the bottom. She looked up at him. "What can you tell me about this patient before we meet?"

"He's…He's a veteran. Prisoner of war." Sam said slowly. "The world hasn't been kind to him, Muneeba."

* * *

My eyes scanned the lines of the email for a third time. I had read what felt like thousands of emails today, all from physicians around the country, and I hadn't been entirely sure why. This morning I had conducted my interviews and I had mentally made a choice, but something compelled me to dig through the piles of electronic messages.

"You're doing it again."

I glanced up to see my feet had come to a stop while Natasha and Wanda walked ahead. They both looked amused at my distraction. I jogged to catch up to them in the lobby of the Compound, "I'm reading this email—"

"Must be a _very_ interesting email." Natasha hummed while moving her arm so she held the bag of clothes casually over her shoulder.

"It is." I nodded. "I thought I knew who I wanted to work with on the surgery, but this email from a surgeon in Texas is really speaking to me. I don't know. My gut likes this guy a lot even though I haven't seen his face or heard his actual voice. What would you say to that?"

"I'd say he needs a background check first and foremost."

"Obviously, little miss paranoia." I rolled my eyes.

She narrowed her eyes at me, "That's rich coming from _you_." Natasha followed it up with a shrug, "Go with your gut. You know I won't ever tell you otherwise."

I glanced at Wanda and she shrugged, "Whatever you think is best. If you bring him here I can always see his true intentions."

Natasha nodded and pointed to the teen approvingly. I chuckled and glanced back down at my phone. The orthopedic surgeon from Texas was named Darren Bass. In his email he told a story of how he was a veteran as well as a surgeon and had lost his lower right leg in Iraq. Dr. Bass said he knew what it felt like to suddenly find yourself without a limb and then trying to adjust to the new life ahead of you. He also said he would be honored to offer his services to Captain America. Something about it just felt sincere. At the very least, it was worth it to give the guy a call and talk to him about it in more depth.

" _Hey_!"

I looked up to see Natasha and Wanda had walked away from me again, but they weren't the ones calling out to me. A girl jogged over to me, no older than 16, with dark braided hair and bangs. She had on light colored jeans rolled up at the bottom, an olive green bowling style shirt with a black long sleeve shirt under it that had the sleeves partly pulled up, and large headphones hanging around her neck. Her red converse looked worn down and a collection of bracelets sat around her left wrist.

"You're Aj Bradshaw!" She chirped. Natasha and Wanda came over to stand by me, and the kid's grin widened, "Wow, the Black Widow! I follow you guys on Instagram." Her eyes focused on Wanda. "I think I saw you on Ms. Bradshaw's story, but I don't know your name sorry."

Wanda smiled with a small nod, "I'm Wanda."

"It's so nice to meet you!" She grinned in unbridled excitement. She pointed to us, "This is crazy. Have you guys met Captain Marvel?" I let my eyes dart to Natasha and mouthed the name in confusion, but she just shrugged. "I've read _everything_ about Carol Danvers and when those SHIELD files got leaked there was even _more_ about her and I know it says she hasn't been seen since like 2001 but I don't believe it."

I tried to cut in, "I don't think we know—"

"Oh, and Ms. Bradshaw, I know you can fight. Have you ever gone on a mission with the Black Widow? I wrote a fic where the two of you did a mission together and it was really popular, but if I have you here I have some questions like—"

"Kid, kid, kid." I said quickly. Most of her words were lost on me. "Slow down. First off", I turned and pointed to Natasha, " _Can_ we do a mission together? That would be so much fun. Wanda, you can come too, and we'll make it a girls' night!" Wanda smiled and Natasha shook her head at me. I turned back to the kid and held my hand out, "Secondly, just call me Aj. Let's start there. It is very nice to meet you."

She quickly shook it, her excitement at the same level as it was before, "I'm Kamala, and actually we met before! It was about a year ago though."

"We did?" I questioned. The women beside me shot me a look, but I shrugged in just as much confusion as them. I didn't recognize this girl at all. Like not even a little.

"I live in Jersey City and my friends dragged me down to the waterfront—"

" _Oh no_." I mumbled and let my fingers drum over my lips. The waterfront was next door to what used to be the ring. There was no way this story was going to end well.

"This scary guy was yelling at us, and you came out of nowhere covered in blood. Like blood from your nose, and some from your mouth, and your face looked really bruised too."

Natasha chuckled, "Sounds like you so far."

Kamala continued as if she hadn't been interrupted, "You punched the guy to the ground, spat at him, and he ran off. Then you turned to us and told us to, _'Go the 'F' home'_ , but you didn't just say ' _F'_."

"That doesn't sound like something I can deny." I mumbled to myself. My eyebrows furrowed and I sighed, "I don't remember you, but… Sorry, you had to see me like that. I was in a rough place."

Kamala waved her hands at me with a crooked smile, "Hey, you saved me and my friends. I thought you were cool. I tried to tell you that you should go to a hospital, but you laughed and walked away."

Natasha shot me a glare and I gave her a sheepish smile. Hearing that I had poor decision making skills should not be a new argument. I forced my attention back to Kamala, "What were you doing out by the waterfront at that time anyways? If _I_ was walking around bloody that meant it had to at least be 2 in the morning."

"Uh…" Her eyes widened, "Well, it was for this party. It was my friend's idea. I promise we don't do that on the regular. Please don't tell my mom."

" _I know your mom too_?" I cried in panic.

Kamala laughed, "No! Not yet at least. She's interviewing for a job here right now with Mr. Wilson. You know, _the Falcon_."

"Yeah, we do know of him." Natasha nodded.

Wanda was the one to ask the million dollar question though, "What does your mom do?"

"Oh, she's a therapist." Well, that was something we needed around here that's for damn sure. We needed a barrel of therapists to work through the baggage we had. Kamala glanced down at her phone when it chimed, "Oh, I gotta go. It was so cool to meet you guys!" She began to hurry off. The girl gave us one last wave, "Thanks again for saving me and my friends before! You and Captain America are a _super_ cute couple!"

"I—uh, you—no—" I called out, but she was already gone.

Natasha chuckled, "Speaking of your _oh-so-cute_ boyfriend, do you plan on talking to him anytime soon?"

I began to walk toward our elevator, "I plead the fifth."

"You can't ignore him forever."

" _I can't hear you_."

"Kamala was an inhuman." Wanda chimed into our argument nonchalantly. Natasha and I nearly broke our necks spinning to look at her. "Isn't that interesting?"

* * *

Bucky shifted in his seat awkwardly. The woman sitting across from him had a warm presence, but she was still a stranger. Sam and Steve dropped him off into this office and then wandered off. Knowing Steve wasn't standing outside the door hearing this awkward event helped but only marginally.

"It truly is an honor to meet you, Mr. Barnes." Muneeba Khan said. Bucky nodded once with a tight smile. Sam told him she was a therapist. He only knew the basics of therapy from his time. There was no telling what modern therapy looked like. "Do you know what I'm here for?"

He shifted in his seat again, "Talking?"

Muneeba chuckled with a nod, "Basically. That's the bare bones of my profession, I suppose. Sam called me in to talk to you and a few other Avengers."

Bucky resisted the urge to clarify that he was far from being an Avenger. He shook his head, "Isn't Sam a therapist too?"

"Not exactly." She shook her head. "Even if he were though, professionally, Sam would rather be in the role of friend rather than therapist. Sometimes it's easier to talk to a third party. We hold things back from people closest to us because we don't want them to see us in a different light."

Bucky thought this over. He couldn't disagree. Steve was always trying to get him to talk, but he found it difficult to speak about certain things. Bucky realistically knew that his best friend wouldn't judge him, even though he probably should, but still he couldn't bring himself to talk about his worst sins. The logical side of his brain told him that Steve would always be there for him, but the thought of seeing Steve scowl at him? Cast him aside? God, it _broke_ him.

"Is that what this is right now? A therapy session?"

"Not an official one. I just wanted to get to know you a little and I'm sure you'd like to know a little more about me." Muneeba replied. He nodded and she began to talk more about her life. She spoke about her family. Her husband, son, and teenage daughter. How they immigrated from Pakistan nearly twenty years ago, and once she got to America she trained as a licensed therapist. She sounded like a lovely woman. "And what about you?"

Bucky blinked, "Me?"

"Sam tells me you're a prisoner of war."

He let out a sad chuckle, "That's…It's not so simple."

"Sam told me you were a POW that was tortured and beaten until you were broken enough for them to _take advantage_ of your mind and free will." Muneeba said in a soft voice that contrasted the harshness of the accurate words. Everyone knew it, but this was the first time someone said it to him in a sentence. They sat in silence for a moment before she spoke again, "Is that more accurate?"

Bucky nodded and cleared his throat, "That's—Yeah. That's it."

Muneeba smiled again, "Mr. Barnes, I'd like to ask you another question, but if this question bothers you too much or brings up too much pain then feel free to ignore it. Alright?" He nervously nodded. "When all of this happened… Do you think those terrible men changed who you were? Did they take James Buchanan Barnes and twist him into something new or do you think they carved a hole in your mind and placed someone unfamiliar and unwelcome in? How do you feel on that?"

Bucky never thought about that before.

Well…that was a lie.

Every once in a while, the thought would pass, but he'd let it fly by without hesitating long on it. It was a painful subject. It was a terrifying subject. He had a revolving playlist of memories and nightmares flashing through his head. If he lingered on anything for too long he'd get stuck. Now this virtual stranger was asking him to focus in on the thought process? Did he even want to?

The answer was no. He most definitely did not want to. Bucky wanted to bury these thoughts in an unmarked grave in the middle of nowhere. Never to visit them again.

This was about more than just him though. As much as his broken little head told him that he didn't deserve to heal, there was a small voice now that told him he _had_ to. He had to get better for all the people around him. All the people who were risking their well-being just to have him around. He wanted to get better for Steve. He wanted to get better for Aj. This was how you did that right? This was how it worked? You talked it out to somebody like Muneeba and all your problems were solved?

Or something along those lines.

The sudden, shrill of a phone ringing made him jump. Muneeba sighed and quickly turned her phone off, "I am so sorry about that. It was my daughter, I forgot to silence my phone before we began speaking."

"Do you…Do you need to go?" Bucky nodded towards the door. This would be the ideal excuse to bow out of this situation. In fact, he felt like he was halfway out the door already, "I don't want to keep you."

"I have all the time in the world, Mr. Barnes." She replied with another reassuring smile. Bucky mentally re-settled in his seat. "My daughter is a big Avengers fan. Being here at the Compound is a dream come true for her. The longer I stay in here, the happier she is." He chuckled at her words. She motioned to him with her hand. "Please, continue."

Bucky wrung his gloved hands together. So much for that. He bobbed his head once, trying to find where to even begin, what to even say, then sighed, "I don't know. I mean, I guess I do but…" He took in another shaky breath. "It felt like…like… like getting shoved into the passenger seat of a car. A stranger climbed behind my steering wheel and took control. I'd try to push him out, to get my hand back on the controls, but it was _pointless_. I wasn't strong enough. That left me the option of going to sleep and letting him drive wherever he planned on going or…or just _watching_ it all play out." He glanced down at his hands and let his mind wander down a rabbit hole he didn't often visit. Bucky shook his head. "Steve keeps calling it mind control. I guess that's what it was technically, but…. All the descriptions I've heard of mind control though, nobody ever talks about the fact that _you're still there_. There's a part of you, watching, and you're fighting and fighting and _fighting_ and— and _I just kept losing_. Over and over I— I lost that battle _every_ damn time and—" Bucky's voice broke and he took a moment to clear his throat before pushing out the last hoarse part of his sentence, "—that's what made everything so much worse."

He looked up at Muneeba to see a look of concentrated thought on her face. Bucky swallowed the lump in his throat. Now that he started, it was like the words were just falling out.

"And now I'm back in the driver's seat. I'm behind the wheel. I'm in control, but he—the Soldier is _still_ there. He's in the backseat and he wants control again and he's—he's so much better at trying to break loose than I was before." Bucky scoffed. "It took me ages to get control. It took Steve nearly _dying_ for me to finally wake up, but for him—God, he gets so close _all_ the time. It's a constant battle to stay in control."

"I see." Muneeba hummed. "Is there anything that seems to make fighting easier?"

Bucky shrugged, "Aj's broken me out of episodes in the past."

"And who is this Aj?"

"Aj is…" Bucky paused then let out a small chuckle, " _She's Aj_."

Muneeba smiled with a small nod. There was a beat of silence before she stood up. Bucky quickly rose as well mimicking her action. She set her hand on her chest with a grin, "Mr. Barnes, I would love to work with you on this. Do you think you'd feel comfortable meeting on a weekly basis for now?"

"Um, yeah." Bucky nodded and surprisingly it felt like a good idea. "Thank you."

"I'm looking forward to working with you." Muneeba motioned to the door, "How about we go find your friends and my daughter?"

Bucky crossed the room to open the door for her and motioned her through first. Before stepping out he pulled his hood over his head. They walked down to the lobby, and unsurprisingly according to Muneeba, her daughter had found his friends. Bucky couldn't help but chuckle at the young girl who was staring up at Steve like he was a top tier celebrity. He always knew his friend was worthy of that kind of adoration and love. It was nice the world was finally starting to realize it too.

Sam motioned for them to dip out of the crowd towards the side of the room out of sight. Muneeba traded numbers with him so they could get in touch easier, and he promised to come see her in a few days for an official therapy session.

"It was so nice to meet you guys!" The girl said excitedly as her mom began to drag her away. She waved at them one last time, "I met your girlfriend, Captain America! She's _so_ pretty!"

Bucky watched Steve's face turn bright red, and he didn't have to question who she was referring to. It seemed a good half of the world thought him and Aj were involved. Bucky didn't know how he felt about that so he tossed the thought away.

Sam crossed his arms, "You know, Aj texted me earlier. She told me Kamala was inhuman."

" _What_?" Steve pressed in shock. Bucky was vaguely aware of what that meant and the situation surrounding inhumans right now. Steve shook his head, "What do we do about that?"

Sam shrugged, "I don't know. Invite her to family dinner? I mean, geez what is with all these _toddler_ superheroes popping up?" The man scoffed. "Avengers are starting to look like the damn _Kids Next Door_."

"I don't know what that is." Steve replied.

Sam rolled his eyes, "For crying out loud— Come on, let's get tall, dark, and sketchy here out of the lobby before security _makes_ him."

Bucky narrowed his eyes at him, but the man just grinned in response as they walked back towards the private elevator. He liked Sam. He was actually glad that the man had called someone in for him to be his therapist rather than trying to take the role himself. It was nice to have a friend.

* * *

Tony had gone to bed before I did. It was probably a sign of end times. There had been a moment where the genius tried to convince me to go to bed when it usually was the exact opposite. I finally understood why it was so hard to drag Tony out of the lab though. I had started working on the shoulder project again after dinner and it had sucked me. One hour had turned to three which turned to me sitting alone in the lab at 1:46 in the morning.

There were a few more things I wanted to figure out specifics for before Dr. Bass and his Physician Assistant got here tomorrow—er, today, I guess. Tony had agreed that his email had sounded very sincere and his background check via SHIELD had come back clean.

"FRIDAY, show me Tony's blueprints again." I said and the holographic images blinked into existence in front of me. Exhausted, I rubbed my face once and then looked over the schematics again. For all we knew, the ortho surgeon would get here, take one look at our plan, and tell us it was impossible.

I worked for another ten minutes or so, scribbling more notes, when FRIDAY's voice startled me, " _Ms. Bradshaw, Captain Rogers told me not to notify anyone of the Red Star alarm that began 2 minutes and 17 seconds ago, but Ms. Maximoff suggested to me earlier this week that I should always contact you_."

There was so much jampacked into that one sentence and it took my sleep deprived a couple seconds longer to decipher it all. It finally clicked though, and I jumped off the stool so fast that it fell backwards and clattered on the tile floor. Instead of taking the elevator, I ran to the stairs and took them two at a time to get to the top floor. Just like I was ' _Setting Sun'_ , Steve was ' _Silver Alert'_ , and Bruce was ' _Jolly Green'_ , Tony had set up a program named ' _Red Star'_ to monitor Bucky's vitals constantly.

My handprint was keyed into their apartment's handle so there was nothing to stop me from bursting in. The moment the door opened I heard both Bucky and Steve yelling. I hadn't been in their apartment yet, but it was easy to follow the sounds to the first bedroom. Bucky was crying out as if he were in pain, thrashing on the bed, while Steve held him down so he wouldn't hurt himself and tried to tell him it was just a nightmare.

Steve's eyes snapped to me, " _Aj, get the hell out of here_!"

"Get _off_ of him!" I yelled back and sprinted forward. I wrapped my hands around his arm and tugged, but my strength was nothing compared to his. Steve yelled for me to get out again, followed by telling Bucky he was alright, and I tugged him as hard as I could again, " _Steve_! Listen to me!"

Steve finally let go with a grunt and Bucky flew off the bed toward his left. At the same time, Steve jumped off the bed to the right pushed me back into the wall with his entire body covering mine. The room was silent for a moment. Devoid of any sound other than Bucky's ragged breaths. I peeked around Steve's arm, he shifted to try and keep me covered again, but I could see Bucky on his hands and knees. His dark hair acted as a curtain between us.

I tried to step forward, but Steve shot me a glare. With a glare of my own, I pushed against him, "Your way didn't work just now. It's my turn."

"You're not getting any closer to him, Aj." Steve hissed.

"Steve can you _please_ just trust me!?"

" _No_!" He snapped. My heart ached, but it was dumb of me to ask. Of course, he couldn't trust me. Steve shook his head quickly, a broken look in his eyes, and I wondered how my face looked right now. He sighed, "Not with _this_. If he accidentally lashes out and hurts you…"

I shook my head, "I won't get close. Please let me try."

Steve slowly slid to the side and I took a few steps forward. The blond wrapped a hand around my wrist and walked with me. Ignoring him, I knelt down dragging him with me. For a moment we just sat there and waited. Bucky's breathing was slowing, but his entire body was too tense. There were plenty of times when Bucky called me as not completely Bucky, but this was the first time I was seeing it in person.

"Your name is James Buchanan Barnes." I whispered and the dark-haired man shook his head. "Bucky to your friends. Your sister's name is Rebecca and you—"

" _Stop_." Bucky's voice was guttural, and I felt Steve stiffen beside me. I glanced over my shoulder at him and shook my head. With my free hand, I lifted one finger to my mouth. We needed to wait. This is how it went. Bucky was fighting something in his head, and he had to beat that first. At least, that's how he explained it the last time this happened over the phone.

Finally, after what felt like forever, Bucky spoke again and his voice was weak but his, "My name is Bucky."

"Yes, it is. Your name is Bucky. Your best friend's name is Steve." I said then added something I never got to say before over the phone. "Steve is _here_."

I expected it to help the process along, but his shoulders suddenly stiffened again. Bucky's metal arm whirred, and I jumped when he slammed his fist into the ground shattering the wood beneath him. Steve ripped me up off the ground in one swift movement when Bucky did it again.

"Get out. Get Tony." He barked.

I shook my head, "You have to get out. It's _you_."

"What—"

" _Please_." I began to push him toward the door. Bucky slammed his fist into the floor again. "I can do this." Steve leveled a glare at me, tried to drag me out again, but I shot him the most pleading look I could paint on my face. "Please, Steve. Please."

Steve let out a breath of frustration and took a few steps out the door, hands buried in his hair and shoulders tight. I whipped back around to my place on the floor and knelt down again. Bucky wasn't slamming his fist into the floor anymore and that seemed like a good sign.

"Bucky, can you hear me?" I asked. He just shook his head, breathing hard. I slid a little bit closer, "What's my name?" Again, he shook his head. His arm whirred. I scooted another inch closer. " _What's my name_? You _know_ my name. You _always_ know my name. Remember?"

There was a beat of tight silence before Bucky spoke in a tired whisper, "Aj."

"Yeah." I grinned.

"Aj. _You're_ Aj." Bucky shuddered. " _I'm_ Bucky."

He collapsed to the ground, flipped on his back, and just laid on top of the wooden shards that had broken under his fist. Bucky was drenched in sweat and still breathing heavy. I slid even closer, so I was sitting right by his head, and reached out to him.

" _Don't_." Bucky said.

"You're not going to hurt me. You're back. I can tell." I replied with ease. I truly could. I could hear it in his voice. He won the fight in his head. "Can I touch you?"

After a second, Bucky nodded, and I quickly pulled his head onto my lap and began to run my fingers through his sweaty hair. His eyes fluttered close, and he mumbled apologies, but I just hummed over his soft voice. I traced my fingers over his eyebrows, down the bridge of his nose, along his jawline. It was something Granny did for me anytime I came home from a bad fight all worked up. The light touches, after all those harsh ones, was relaxing.

"Steve was my last mission. I never finished it." Bucky said in defeat. A harsh sob. "I'm going to hurt him."

"No, you're not. You don't want to hurt him. You stopped yourself. You won."

"The Soldier wants to finish that last mission so badly." Bucky sighed and my heart broke at the tears that dripped from the corners of his closed eyes. "What if I can't stop him? What he takes control again? What if…What if I hurt him? God, _what if I hurt Steve I_ —"

I shushed him and wiped away the tears, "You'd _never_ hurt him. Stop torturing yourself like this, Bucky. You love him _so_ much. You'd never hurt him. _You'd never_."

The man under my fingertips took in deep breaths and slowly began to calm. I heard arguing outside the bedroom, and I glanced at the door just in time to see Tony stick his head in. There was a glow at his hands that told me he had his gauntlets on. Either FRIDAY gave in and told him what was going on or he heard the pounding of Bucky's fist. Tony raised a skeptical eyebrow at me, unhappy at my placement, but I shook my head at him. His lips pressed together tightly, but I just furrowed my eyebrows at him. With a sigh, he slipped back out of the room to argue with Steve again.

"How do you feel?" I asked, returning my attention to the man in my lap.

"Better." Bucky swallowed. "More clear. Thank you."

His stormy eyes slowly opened, and I gave him a smile, "You know you never have to thank me." I traced my fingers down the bridge of his nose and his eyes fluttered in response. "Do you wanna take a shower? I think that might help."

"Can… Can we stay here? Just for another minute?" Bucky asked— _begged_.

"We can stay here for the rest of forever if you need it." I replied. It was quiet again, and I continued to trace his features. My fingers dragged through the scruff on his face, and I chuckled, "I really like your beard."

Bucky's chest rumbled with a deep chuckle, "Natasha Romanoff says it makes me look homeless."

"That just means she likes you." I hummed.

"Thanks for the clothes too. I like what you picked out for me." Bucky said.

I raised an eyebrow at him even though his eyes were closed, "How do you know what I picked out?"

"Natasha put it all in a separate bag with a note that said ' _This was all Aj. I do not approve'_ on it." He laughed breathlessly, and I rolled my eyes. She would.

My hand combed through his hair, "I remember what you said about how colorful some of today's fashion is. And you said you liked soft material. And you run hot. Honestly, it was a match made in heaven."

"I love it." He mumbled. "And the jacket?"

"I just think you'd look super good in a jean jacket."

Bucky chuckled again and we went back to a peaceful silence. Another couple minutes passed before he began to sit up. I asked him if he was sure, but he just nodded. I stood up as well and stared at him while he stared at the broken boards between us. Bucky finally lifted his gaze to meet mine.

"I think I'm gonna take that shower now." Bucky leaned forward and pressed a light kiss on the top of my head, "Thanks, doll."

I squeezed his arm once as he passed and waited until he closed the bathroom door before walking out. Right outside of Bucky's bedroom, Steve leaned against the wall with his head downcast and his arms crossed tightly over his chest. He lifted his gaze to me, and we just stared at one another for what felt like forever.

"Can we talk?" Steve asked quietly. I nodded and quickly turned to walk towards the living room. Their apartment was very open with a large living room and open kitchen. Both bedrooms branched off from the main space. I sat down on the couch pulling my knees up to lean my chin against them. Steve took a seat on the couch adjacent to me and I was both relieved and disappointed that he didn't sit next to me. Damn my torn heart. "I couldn't help him."

My eyes widened, "Steve—"

"If you hadn't come up… _How_ did you know to come up?"

"FRIDAY told me. I was in the lab." I replied. "Wanda told FRIDAY a while back to notify me on these things, but I'm not sure what that's about."

Steve leaned one elbow on his knee and cupped his mouth with the same hand, "I was _useless_ to him." His hair was an absolute mess, and I knew it was because he had been running his hand through it. It was one of his tics when he was frustrated. "Hell, I made it _worse_."

I shook my head, "It's not your fault. Steve…" I paused to find the right wording. "Sometimes when he had a bad episode, he'd call me. I'd always be able to tell by his voice that he wasn't fully himself and ages ago he told me what helps him. This was your first time experiencing one of his episodes, but… I've dealt with a handful." Steve's gaze was piercing, and I forgot how powerful those electric blue eyes were. I shook my head, "And… I don't know if you heard, but he said—"

"I did." Steve cut me off with a nod. "I did."

"That's not your fault. Him reacting like that." I said, but it didn't seem like my words comforted him like I had hoped they would.

The two of us sat in silence and I didn't know where to go from here. I didn't know what to say. The worst of the episode was over. If Bucky needed to talk about the nightmare he had Steve here to help him through that. I was probably going to get a lecture from Tony, but he'd probably wait until morning. I cleared my throat and stood, "I think I'm gonna head to bed—"

"Why are you avoiding me?" Steve suddenly asked.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, "Can we not get into this right now?"

"I'm sorry."

" _Steve_ —"

" _I'm sorry_ , and I… I _miss_ you, Aj." Steve said and I felt my chest ache at his words. I missed him too, but the note I had left him had been clear and true. I didn't deserve him in my life. Yeah, he missed me now, but what happens when I hurt him again? I didn't trust myself not to. The one thing I didn't want to do was hurt him and seeing the betrayal and pain in his eyes had been _gutting_. "Tell me what I have to do to fix this. Tell me what you want, and I'll do it, Aj."

I shook my head with a sad laugh, "Fix it? _Jesus_ , Steve, _you just don't get it_."

"No, I don't." Steve stood in determination. "So, _tell me_. I _hate_ watching you leave the room every time I come in. Your excuses aren't as foolproof as you think. Explain to me what I have to do to fix this!"

" _Stop_!" I snapped. My hands were shaking, and my throat felt tight, like I was on the verge of tears. Even now I was hurting him. Damned if I don't, and damned if I do. It seemed like there was no scenario that kept him safe from me. I shook my head, "It's not— _It's not you_."

" _Then what is it_?"

"I can't—I can't do this right now, Steve. _Please_." I moved to leave the living room, but as I began to pass him, he reached out and caught my wrist. Steve squeezed once, but I refused to turn around. "Please let go. Steve, I'm sorry, but please."

His warm hand fell, and I hurried for the front door. Steve was hurting right now and every ounce of me wanted to turn around and comfort him. To fix this. That was a temporary solution though. It'd be like a band-aid over a bullet wound. I was the problem and, after what I did, I didn't trust myself to not hurt him again. I refused to be his downfall so even though every step away from him felt like a sucker punch to the gut, I kept moving.

* * *

Clint scratched behind Lucky's ear. The dog had his head resting in his lap as he sat on the ground. It had been a long time since he got to spend so much time with the golden retriever. Lucky had really taken to Kate and Clint couldn't find it in himself to separate them.

He glanced up to see Star hadn't moved from her spot on the floor and was still coloring. Clint's eyes drifted to his watch to see it was officially 3 in the morning. The Asgardian's sleep schedule was fucking wild. He sighed and watched as her dark hand scribbled wildly over the paper like a person possessed. Clint wondered how the kid got lost on Earth in the first place. They didn't have enough clues to even piece together a theory, and anytime they asked Star directly she'd only say she fell. Clint wasn't sure if tripping on Asgard and faceplanting in Earth was a common thing, but he hoped they could do something to get her home. Star never talked about family, to the few people she'd actually talk to, but somebody out there had to be missing her.

"Hey, Star." Clint called out. The little girl looked up to meet his gaze. He gave her a smile, "You wanna come hang out at my house? We got a pool and games and a glowing teenager. I think you'd really like it."

Star stared for a second before pushing up off the ground. She grabbed the paper she was working on and walked over to him. The little girl leaned toward him and whispered quietly, "Will Lucky come with us?"

Clint grinned at her, excited to have her speak to him finally, "Absolutely. Lucky would miss you too much if he didn't." Star's lips curled up in a smile of her own and she bounced in place. He motioned to the paper in her hand, "Did you finish drawing?"

"Mhmm." She hummed and handed it over to him before kneeling down to rub her hands through Lucky's fur.

He flipped the paper around to see the picture and his eyes widened. Like all her artwork it was done in thick crayon and her skills were that of a seven-year-old. Still, Clint was able to clearly see that the person on the right side of the paper was Thor. She drew him with the red cape, blond hair, and his magic hammer. The man on the left side obviously had to be Bucky Barnes. One arm was drawn black to match the clothes and the other was gray. The issue was that cartoon Bucky Barnes was pointing a gun at Thor, and cartoon Thor's chest was splattered with red.

Clint made a clicking noise with his tongue, " _Well, this could be problematic_."


	3. Patience is Not My Virtue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hi everybody ! Leave me your thoughts pls. You know me. I'm always a slut for comments/reviews. Also, anybody know how Ko-Fi works? If I offer to write personalized oneshots for people and charge a set price can Marvel like take me to court? How does that work? What if I offer: 'one your OC/self inset with any character you want but you have to buy me a cup of coffee'? Does that still count as earning money from Marvel copyright? It shouldn't though b/c y'all are just pals buying me coffee? Actually the more I type this out the more I'm freaking myself out lololol
> 
> ANYWAYS
> 
> I tried to keep the medical terminology to a minimum in this chapter but if you get lost you might just wanna google a picture of a shoulder's anatomy? Or just message me. Jesus I'm talking so much right now okay I love all of you so very much pls leave me comments and reviews I wanna hear from y'all sooooooooooo much (lowkey I've been drinking b/c nothing is more fun that drunk writing ok forreal imma shut up now pls talk to me).

* * *

* * *

_"People forget that abuse is damaging, but its aftermath is permanent. Your body will heal, and so will your mind but when things heal they leave scars behind. You owe no one an explanation, a reason, a defense, for who you become after you survive." –unknown_

* * *

"No."

"Tony—"

" _No_!"

"What the hell was I supposed to do!?" I yelled and crossed my arms. "If I hadn't been there the episode would've been _so much worse_ —"

Tony threw his hands out as if physically cutting my words off, "You don't seem to understand what happened there, Aj. _You fucking gambled_. If he had lost it, you would've been _right there_ in his damn _warpath_!"

"Bucky wouldn't hurt me!"

" _That_ is naïve thinking." Tony snapped. "You _hope_ that he wouldn't hurt you, and I'm sure in your brain you think lover boy would _never_ set a hand on you—" I rolled my eyes at his comment, but he pressed on, "—but he isn't in control. I'm sure Bucky fucking Barnes wouldn't touch a hair on your head, but the Winter Soldier would _snap your neck without hesitation_!"

I saw his concern. I understood it. But in my head, there was no question. Bucky was stronger than the Winter Soldier, and Bucky would never hurt me. That's all I needed to know. I ducked my head down for a second, taking in a deep breath, then looked up again, "Tony, think of this objectively. If I hadn't been there, his episode would've spiraled into something worse. We could've had _actual_ injuries."

"Fine." Tony grumbled. "This isn't working though. We need a better system than _'Toss you at him and pray the Soldier doesn't rip your head off'_."

"I can agree on that." I nodded to settle his worries. Tony twisted his lips, and I reached out to touch his arm, "Now can you _please_ stop stressing and get the hell out of my apartment? Pepper is in the lobby with your kids waiting for a day out on the town and you're in here bitching."

Tony scoffed and turned to leave, I followed him to the door, "Are you the one who told Barnes they aren't really my kids? I had a whole thing planned and you went and ruined it."

I pushed him out the front door, "Any other complaints?"

"Not right now, no." He replied then pointed at me, "I'll be back by 5 to meet the surgeon with you."

Tony began to say something else, but I said a slow good-bye while shutting the door on him. He had woken me up at 8 in the morning for this lecture and it hadn't been nearly as much sleep as I wanted. The thought of lying down to go back to sleep didn't feel right. That was the great thing about the training gym though. It was always open for my restless mind.

I quickly changed into shorts and a sports bra. Before I could step out of my bathroom though, my eyes landed on myself in the mirror. The scar at the center of my body still looked angry. It was healed, but it would take much longer for the redness to disappear. I hated it. It was mark 35, but unlike the first 34 it couldn't be hidden. Even with my longest sports bra on you could still see the lower half of it. I clenched my jaw and grabbed a tank top to slip on so it couldn't be seen.

It only took me a couple minutes to get to the gym. The design was very similar to the Tower's but with added space and a lot more natural lighting from huge windows. When I stepped in, I noticed Wanda was running on a treadmill by herself. She glanced over at me, at the sound of my entrance, and I offered her a small wave before moving over to the bags.

After a quick warm-up, I went to town. For the most part, I felt back to normal, but every once in a while, with a specific movement, I'd feel the burn of my abdominal muscles clenching. It was more irritating than it was painful. I got about fifteen minutes in before I realized Wanda was standing a few feet behind my shoulder. I stopped, catching the swinging bag, then turned.

"Hey, Wanda. You okay?" I greeted while trying to catch my breath.

"Good morning." She smiled. Her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and she had on yoga pants and a tank top of her own. "You're very quick on the bag."

"Years of practice." I chuckled.

"It looks like it comes so naturally to you. Those movements feel odd to me when I train. Can you help me with this one?" As she spoke, she swung her arms out into a slow jab, uppercut, hook combo.

I nodded, "Absolutely."

I helped get her feet in the right position then walked her through the combo while putting emphasis on where the power should be coming from. Wanda had the beginner's mistake of putting too much focus on her arms rather than relying on her hips and body for all the power.

Wanda shook her head after working up a sweat, "I don't understand why I need to know all this. In case you guys have not noticed, my hands glow."

With her words she wiggled her fingers and sparks of red danced from them. I chuckled and nodded, "Yes, and that's all good, but what happens when you can't rely on those pretty sparks?" She shrugged in a ' _you win'_ kind of gesture and went back to placing punches into my held out hands. After another second, I lowered my hands, and she gave me a curious look. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"About Bucky?"

"I thought you stopped peeking into heads." I raised an eyebrow at her.

Wanda grinned, "I didn't have to look into your head for that information. I know he had an episode last night and that you helped."

"Right." I mumbled. "FRIDAY said that you were the one who told her to notify me whenever that happened. What made you… _Why_?"

She paused in thought briefly, "It's… I know I'm not supposed to look into heads anymore, but he's in so much pain. It _screams_ out at me and I want…I want to help him _so badly_ so I do what I can."

"Do what you…" I narrowed my eyes in confusion, "What do you mean by that?"

Wanda wrapped her arms around herself nervously, as if she was scared that I was about to start yelling at her, "I make it quiet. When I can. Not enough to be intrusive, I swear I'm never going to do what I did to the others again _, I swear it_ , Aj." She chewed on her lower lip briefly. "But I just…curb the darkness when I can." I blinked in surprise at her words. Was this why he wasn't having as many episodes as we all thought he'd have? The first real one that happened was the one last night. Wanda continued, "And I knew _you_ could help him because of the way his mind is split. Steve Rogers was a part of his past. He's part of Bucky's memory and though he can help in some ways those memories are twisted into his nightmares. You're separate. You weren't a part of his past, either one of them. You're only part of his _present_. You stand out, and it anchors him to reality. I can see that quite clearly."

My initial question had been answered, but I didn't even give a damn about that anymore. Wanda _curbed his darkness_ , helped him feel better, and she did that without any real effort. What if we had her actually sit and actively try?

"Will you… Will you come with me real quick?" I asked slowly.

It took me less than a minute to drag a confused Wanda all the way to the kitchen. Since it was still early in the morning the area was empty. Clint would be coming back sometime today, and Natasha had taken Vision on an unnamed mission. I motioned for Wanda to take a seat and hurried over to the elevators. Before my finger could hit the button, the doors slid open to reveal Sam.

His eyes widened at me, "Morning. Where's the fire?"

"I'm gonna have Wanda use her cool red glowing mojo to push all the darkness out of Bucky's head. Cool, huh?" I said in one breath and tried to squeeze in past him. Sam hooked his arm through mine and dragged me backwards out of the elevator. I frowned at the motion, but allowed him to drag me, " _Hey_."

Sam ignored my complaint, "Aj, can I have a quick word with you?"

I recognized his therapist voice with ease and resisted the urge to audibly sigh. Sam dragged me all the way back into the kitchen and the teenager gave us a curious glance. She motioned toward the hall to where the dorms were, "Do I have time to take a shower before this meeting?"

"Meeting's been cancelled. Go hit the showers and then wake up your lazy ass brother." Sam smiled at her.

Wanda looked briefly confused but shrugged and rose from her seat to leave. I turned back to Sam and crossed my arms in a pouting fashion. The moment Wanda was out of earshot I spoke, "It's kind of rude to cancel a meeting you didn't call."

"Run that plan you had by me again." Sam used his index finger and motioned in a rewind fashion. "Just wanna make sure I heard you right."

I leaned onto the kitchen counter across from him, "Wanda has been using her powers to quietly round out some of Bucky's nightmare's sharper edges. She does it without even trying or thinking. If we have her sit down and _actively_ try—"

Sam nodded, "Yeah, unfortunately that's what I thought you said."

"Sam—"

"Aj, do you remember what I told you about healing?"

I twisted my lips and bobbed my head a little. Sam raised an eyebrow at me and then motioned with his hand for me to continue answering. I groaned once then spoke, "It has ups and downs. Healing is _not_ linear, and we should _not_ be ashamed of backwards movement because movement is still movement or some shit like that."

Sam grinned, " _Eloquent as always_. You know what else healing is? A _marathon_."

"Will you please just tell me what you are trying to tell me?" I pleaded.

"Healing is a marathon and, _girl_ , you are taking this race _way_ too damn fast." Sam leaned on the kitchen counter as well and he held my gaze with sincerity. "Aj, you are trying to _sprint_ to the finish line, and we need to be pacing ourselves." He laced his hands together and nodded once. "We all wish there was a button we could press and we'd be magically healed, but that isn't how this works. The most important part is the journey. Quick fixes are just that…quick fixes."

I pressed my lips together and shook my head, "We can help him _now_ , Sam." That's all I wanted to do. Bucky looked so miserable last night. He mentally tortured himself, and if we could fix that right now… "Wanda could fix this _entire_ thing today."

"Wanda is still learning to use her powers. She could unintentionally make everything worse." Sam said and his argument was pretty solid. He wasn't wrong. Sam pushed off the counter and walked around to stand beside me. Sam threw his arm around my shoulders and I leaned into him. "Even if she could though, Bucky has to set this pace. We can't solve this for him. He has to learn to fight this battle himself. He needs to have the peace of mind that comes with knowing you overcame your hardships on your own."

I sighed, "You're right and I know you're right but… I want to help him, Sam."

"And you are." He squeezed my shoulders reassuringly. "Our job is to support him. Not take away his control."

Sam was 100% right. I knew more than most what it felt like to have control taken out of your hands. It left a bitter taste in my mouth that I tried to do that to him without even realizing it. Bucky spent so much of his life having people decide things for him, force him onto a path he had no say in, and here I was trying to do the same fucking thing.

I felt Sam pull back from me and he held both sides of my arms with a frown, "Hey, you just wanted to make him feel better. There's nothing wrong with that, Aj. You obviously care about him and that has to make all of this so much harder. You just gotta be patient."

"Right. Because it's a marathon, not a sprint." I said and he nodded. I raised an eyebrow at him, "How many healing metaphors do you have?"

"About 213 give or take." Sam joked. He must have noticed that I was still upset at myself because he squeezed my arms again, "You alright?"

"Mhmm." I said quickly then pulled away. "I need to, uh, work on some more arm stuff before the doctor gets here later and I should, uh, shoot at things too. It's been a minute since I practiced. Clint's gonna bitch when he gets back."

Sam sighed in concern, "Aj…"

I shook my head, "I'm fine, Sam. You're 100% right. I just got…excited, I guess."

Sam still looked hesitant to end the conversation here, but I forced a smile and hurried toward the lab. My entire time with the Avengers I had been healing and they never once rushed me. They never pushed me more than what I was comfortable with. You would think that would've stuck with me. Yet here I was trying to drag Bucky to what I thought was the finish line. I had been doing this the entire time too.

When I was wary of touch the Avengers took a step back and they respected that. They never pressured me into any sort of contact. They let me figure that out on my own. With Bucky, I hadn't done that. Maybe the first few times I had, but lately I had just been assuming he was okay with it.

God, what the hell was wrong with me?

* * *

Tony Stark had built a surplus of rooms at the Compound. A number of reading rooms, a game room, the main living spaces, a few office styled rooms, and more and more and more. Bucky wasn't sure why there were so many private Avenger rooms when there really weren't that many Avengers, but he wasn't complaining right now. The ridiculous amount of rooms meant he could hide away and it would take Steve more than a minute and a half to find him. It's not that he didn't want to be around the blond, but after last night the thought of having to face him was heavy.

Bad nights weren't unusual for him, but this had been the first at the Compound. Bucky felt a weird mix of shame, embarrassment, and guilt. Despite all that, there was some small part of him that felt relief. He hadn't hurt Steve, not physically at least, and winding down in Aj's comforting hands was a _Godsend_. That's how he felt, and he hated that he took comfort in that. Bucky _should_ be suffering. The nightmares, the lapses in judgement, the episodes were the cost of his sins. They were _supposed_ to hurt him.

He sunk in his seat and tried to focus on the words in his book. It was one from the list he was creating of things he needed to read based off curiosity and suggestions. This one, the Book Thief, was one Aj had suggested for him because she had enjoyed it a long time ago and it took place during WWII. Bucky enjoyed what he read of it yesterday, but today he didn't have the focus for it. It felt like he was reading the same line over and over again as flashes of his nightmares tip-toed around the edges of his mind.

Bucky's head snapped up when he heard someone come into the room, but it wasn't the broad shouldered blond he expected. Instead, it was Wanda. The girl had on jeans and a sweater, her hair freshly washed making the red tones blend with the rest of her dark hair. Without hesitation, she took a seat on the other end of the couch where he sat and opened up a book of her own. It was one of the one's Aj was having the twins read as part of their curriculum.

He shifted, feeling awkward, and began to rise from his seat as slowly as he could so his movements didn't startle the young girl. When he got completely up, he was the one startled when Wanda set her book down and quickly thrust her hand out, "Please don't go. I am not scared to be in this room with you alone. I came to sit with you."

"O—Oh." Bucky said dumbly. He could barely comprehend her not being afraid to be around him let alone why she would seek him out. Wanda gave him a smile and he sat back down hesitantly. "Okay."

" _Are you alright with me sitting here with you_?" Wanda questioned in Sokovian.

It was one of the many languages that he suddenly found himself now able to understand and speak. Bucky cleared his throat and replied back in her native tongue, " _I am. It's fine_."

" _I know… I know you had a rough night_." Wanda said softly. " _How do you feel this morning_?"

Bucky considered lying, but the teen could see into his head, right? Would there even be a point to lying? To be honest, he wasn't really sure how her powers worked. Her or her brother's. Both of them always seemed unusual to him and it was because they never gave him any kind of berth. It's like they didn't seem to realize that he was the monster in the dark that parents warned their children about.

" _Fractured_." Bucky answered, again in Sokovian, and shook his head. " _It could be worse. It_ should _be worse. Hah_." He quickly stood up and awkwardly shook his head as he began to step away. " _You don't need to hear this. You're a kid and I—I—It's a risk to even be_ …"

It was a risk to be this close to him after an episode.

He felt solid enough not to lose control, but the risk was never at zero. _Never_. Wanda stood abruptly, her hands tightly gripping the book she had picked back up, and he raised a confused eyebrow at her.

" _Aj wanted me to help you, I think. That's what it felt like_." Wanda shrugged once. " _I don't know if I_ can _help. I still…_ " She swallowed once. " _I still don't know what my powers can do. I don't understand, but—I—_ " Wanda set her book down on the couch and then motioned to him. " _I want to help. Pietro too. We want to help, and I know you're confused by that, but… You're like us, but you were better_."

Bucky was confused before, but now he was lost. He didn't understand how these two precious kids, who had suffered so greatly, could compare themselves to him. More so, he couldn't grasp how, in any way of the word, he would be considered better. Bucky opened his mouth but closed it in panic when he noticed the girl in front of him began to tear up. Her eyes flashed red as a tear rolled down her cheek, and Bucky was frozen in shock. This moment reminded him of when they first met. When she collapsed and spewed apologies at him. He hadn't forgotten that. He hadn't forgotten Wanda begging him for forgiveness.

" _Hey, hey, it's…it's okay_." Bucky said cautiously. He sat a seat cushion away and tried to figure out what he was supposed to do now. " _Wanda_ …"

" _HYRDA changed all of us_." She cried. " _Physically and mentally—they left_ no _thing untouched. We're just a_ bundle of scars _held together by well wishes_." A wave of red rolled off her. " _But you were_ taken _—you were_ taken and tortured _, and you_ fought _. You_ fought _and we_ volunteered _. We volunteered for them and I am_ so _sorry._ I am so sorry."

Wanda was sobbing now, and it woke something in him. A memory of Rebecca coming home with skinned knees. Rebecca waking him in the middle of the night because of a bad dream. Without even thinking, he moved closer and held out his right arm toward her. It was only then that he hesitated. Bucky wasn't a good big brother anymore he was a weapon of mass destruction. This didn't stop the girl from moving herself, familiar with the motion. She fell into his arm and rested her face on his shoulder. Nervously, Bucky lightly let his hand pat her back in comfort.

" _You don't owe me anything. You aren't to blame for anything_."

" _We chose this. We chose_ —"

" _I know HYDRA_." Bucky said firmly. " _Which is why I know you didn't sign up for what you got. They are liars and deceivers. I don't know you or your brother's full story, but I know without a doubt that HYDRA took advantage of you kids. They saw your pain and they used it and for that_ I'm _sorry_."

Wanda cried a moment longer before pulling back and swiping at her face with the back of her sleeve. She sniffled once and shook her head, " _Pietro and I wish we could've been stronger, like you. The moment we noticed something off we wish we would've fought. Fought like_ you."

Bucky shook his head, " _It's never that simple. Situations are different. Steve told me a little about what happened. From what I heard, when it came time to put up a fight both of you did. He said the Ultron situation would've gone_ very _differently without you two_."

" _That doesn't change what we've done_." Wanda said softly.

" _Nothing ever does_." He sighed. Bucky thought of all the things told to him. Every comfort and kind word. It was hard for him to believe it, to accept any of it, but maybe it would do them more good than it did him. " _No choice, no fight, fixes what you've done in the past. All you can do is… All we can do is choose better now. Be better in the present_."

Wanda's lips curled up into a smile and it brought him comfort. He made her smile. He brought her comfort in her time of sorrow. For the first time in a very, very long time, Bucky got to play the role of older brother and he didn't fail. In a blur, Pietro was suddenly there, a hand on his sister's shoulders, and Bucky only stiffened for a moment at the sudden appearance.

Pietro leaned down, " _Sister, are you alright? I felt your power_."

" _I am_." Wanda nodded. " _We should read. We need to finish this book by the end of the week_."

Her white haired brother groaned and dropped to the ground. He leaned his back against the couch and pulled out his own small copy of the book from his back pocket. Wanda pulled her legs under herself, nestled in the couch beside him, and grabbed her book again. For a moment, he just stared at the kids who just made themselves comfortable and settled into their books. They looked so calm and at home despite being stuck in a room with him. Bucky leaned back into his own seat. He used the elastic hair-tie around his wrist to pull back half of his messy hair and grabbed his book again. It was much easier to focus on the words now.

* * *

"Nah", Sam said, tucking the phone between his ear and shoulder so he could continue to make a sandwich with his hands, "Your boy toy ain't back yet."

Natasha grumbled on the other end in Russian, " _Fine. He isn't answering his cell. Have him call me the moment he lands. He's gonna be busy with the new kid but_ —"

"New kid?" Sam paused in making his masterpiece. "Please tell me we didn't pick up another child superhero. We seriously need an age limit around here. Don't these kids have responsibilities like chores or daycare, I don't know."

His friend chuckled, " _This is a different kind of kid. She's from Asgard_."

"Your boy is getting wild with these adoptions now."

" _Just tell him to call me_."

"Roger." Sam hung up the phone and slid it into his back pocket. He turned to grab some condiments from the fridge and when he spun back around he jumped at the sight of Bucky leaning on the kitchen counter by his sandwich. The mayo bottle flew out of his hand in the panic, " _Fuck_!"

Bucky reached out and caught the bottle with ease, "You dropped this."

"I didn't even hear you come in!" Sam snatched the bottle from him and motioned to him with it, "We're getting you a damn bell to wear around your neck, I swear to God."

"I didn't think you'd be into that kind of thing, Sam." Bucky replied, and Sam nearly choked on his spit at the comment. It was the first non-hesitant comeback the dark and gloomy man had hit him back with. Sam was a weird mix of both proud and exasperated. Before he could reply himself, the man continued, "Have you seen Aj? She's not in the gym or the lab."

Sam shrugged and went back to his sandwich, "Maybe over in the shooting range", he motioned out the window with his head to the other building, "She said she wanted to get some target practice in today. You gonna go see her?"

"I don't know if I'm allowed in the other building." Bucky stated casually. Sam glanced over at him to see a look of concentration drawn on his features. He surprisingly looked really good today. After what he heard happened last night, he expected the man to be an absolute mess. Instead, he had on real clothes, his hair pulled back, and a clear look in his eyes. "What?"

It was only then he realized that he had been staring. Sam cleared his throat, "How do you feel, man? Really? I know last night was rough."

Bucky looked startled by the question, as if he didn't expect him to ask it, "Um, I'm okay. I think. I'm honestly as surprised as you are by it."

"You talk to Steve about any of this yet? I know he was looking for you."

"Not yet." Bucky said, his voice going softer, "I don't want to…" He hesitated, but Sam turned his body to face him entirely and nodded for him to continue. Bucky sighed, "He was my— _the Soldier's_ last mission. If Aj hadn't been there last night I don't know what would've…"

Sam shook his head, "Hey, stop looking so guilty. This isn't your fault."

"Isn't it?" Bucky replied, but his tone stayed level, "Steve wouldn't be at risk if I weren't here. None of you would be."

Sam smirked, "You're being a dramatic little bitch again." Bucky's eyes widened comically at the words. He chuckled himself and shrugged, "No point in moping in self-loathing or self-pity, whichever one you ended up on today. If you weren't here, then both Steve and Aj would be circling the Earth, putting themselves in danger, looking for you. They're safer with you here." Sam motioned to him. "I mean, do I need to remind you of the Romanian incident."

"No." Bucky shook his head.

"Which I'm still not entirely over. I was on the _wrong side_ of Romania looking for your ass." Sam scoffed. "I nearly got my hand bit off by a goat. A _goat_ , Barnes."

Bucky's lips twitched up in amusement and Sam took it as a win. If Bucky stayed still for too long on the same thought, he began to sink. Sam noticed it very early on. The man needed forward movement. Hell, even backward movement would've worked. He just couldn't linger. Sam motioned to the building, "I'm sure you can get to the shooting range without getting caught. Aj probably needs talking down."

As expected, Bucky's eyebrows immediately furrowed in panic and worry, "What?"

"She was upset earlier. We were talking about your healing and I think she took something the wrong way." Sam replied. He finished with the mayo and flipped the bread over on his now complete sandwich. "There really wasn't anything she should've been upset by, but sometimes her demons latch onto a word or phrase and she beats herself up on it."

Bucky shook his head, "What'd you say to her?"

"Calm down." Sam capped the mayo bottle. "You should go talk to her about it. Like I said, it was nothing and the two of us cleared it between us, but I think she hurt herself over something involving you."

"Yeah." Bucky nodded once.

Sam grabbed the mayo bottle and turned to return it to the fridge, "Oh, and while you're talking to her maybe mention the Steve thing? The man is wandering around this Compound moping like a _kicked puppy_. It's honestly—"

Sam turned back around but his words came to a halt when he realized Bucky had disappeared as quickly as he had come. His eyes darted to his plate where his sandwich was missing as well. His eyes widened, " _That son of a bitch_!"

He glanced around but Bucky was already way gone. Sam twisted his lips trying to stay annoyed at his masterpiece being stolen from under his nose, but he couldn't help but smirk in amusement as a chuckle fell from his lips. Bucky goddamn Barnes.

* * *

I emptied the entire clip into the target then set the handgun down on the table in front of me. My aim had improved a little, but the muffled sound of every gunshot made me flinch and that was seriously affecting where the bullet landed. I hated how the sound alone could put me back in that basement. With a sigh, I hit the button to pull the paper target down the lane back towards me and then pulled my earmuffs down around my neck in aggravation.

"You weren't lying."

I jumped at the familiar voice and turned to see Bucky leaning against the back wall. This was the first I was seeing of him today, since his episode, and it gave me comfort that he had his hair pulled back in a half bun. It was the little things that told me he was doing better. It was the little things I took comfort in. Bucky pushed off the wall and walked over to me. He motioned to the target.

"Over the phone, you always said you were terrible, but I just assumed you were being humble."

I shrugged, "Nope. Not humble. Just a shitty shot. What are you doing down here?"

"The sound of gunfire won't put me in another episode. I promise." Bucky joked.

"That makes one of us." I mumbled and kept my gaze on the gun as I began to take it apart. I had only gotten the first few pieces off when a hand covered mine and forced my actions to a halt.

I glanced over at Bucky to see a look of concern drawn on his face, "Talk to me. Are you alright, doll?"

"I'm fine." I shook my head and forced a small smile. "I shouldn't have said that. It was—It's nothing." Bucky tilted his head slightly, giving me a look, and I had to tear my eyes away from him. "Sometimes… Little things will remind me of the basement. The sound of a gun, accidentally touching something too cold, anything sharp pressing into my skin, it… I don't know. I thought it would've passed by now."

"Aj, that happened not even a month ago." Bucky said softly. "You're strong, _so strong_ , but at the end of the day you're still human. You gotta give it a little more time."

I let out a small laughed and ran a hand through my hair. It was so long now. Too long. The itch to dramatically cut it was scratching at the back of my mind. Bucky shot me another concerned look and it was all too much. I turned to face him entirely, "Bucky, I owe you a huge apology."

He furrowed his brow, "What?"

"I'm not a patient person. I've _never_ been a patient person." I said quickly. The words just all tumbled out of me. "And I just got so excited about helping you in any way that I could that I completely steamrolled you in the process!" I covered my eyes with my hands in frustration. "I'm _so_ sorry, Bucky."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Bucky said and I felt him carefully take my hand and pull it away from my face. Surprisingly, he was smiling. "Are you trying to apologize for _caring_ too much?"

I rolled my eyes, "I'm serious. Even with the—the touch thing!"

Bucky lifted the hand still resting on one of mine with a raised eyebrow, "Do you not want me to touch you?"

"No! I mean, yes! Wait—" I groaned, "You were uncomfortable with touch and I kept pressing and trying to push you into more and more—"

"Aj, doll, take a breath." Bucky said firmly. He set his hand back on top of mine. "You didn't force anything. I want to…" He sucked in a sharp breath and nodded once. "I…I like touching you. Just look at last night!" Bucky lifted his right hand from mine and set it on the side of my face with a smile. "See."

I closed my eyes with a sigh, "Bucky, don't you see? I tried to take away your control, make decisions _for_ you, like all those others—"

" _No_." Bucky said firmly, obviously realizing where I was going with that statement. His hand slid from my cheek and grabbed my chin, holding it between his fingers, and forcing me to keep my gaze on his. "You are _nothing_ like those people. Aj, do you know how _honored_ I am to have you in my corner? I mean, Steve is _stuck_ with me—"

"You know he doesn't see it like that."

"Doesn't change the facts." Bucky shook his head, his thumb traced over my chin just under my lips, "I always had his back, and he always had mine. That's all he sees. The punk is incapable of letting anything go. Even a lost cause like me—"

"You're not—"

Bucky chuckled, his lips curling up in that charming smile, "But you…You saw me, an absolute mess in that desolate bunker, and you… You were the first person from this era to have faith in me and… words do not describe how grateful I am for you."

"Still, Sam was right. You need to be in control of this. I'm just here to _support_ you." I said firmly. I lifted my hands to try and pull his away from my chin, but he refused to let it budge from place. "Will you promise to tell me when I become too overbearing, and you need space?"

Bucky held my gaze for a moment before nodding once, "I promise, but I wouldn't hold your breath on it actually happening. You said we'd talk for the rest of forever, remember? We aren't anywhere near the end of that."

I laughed and lightly pushed him away, "Yeah, okay we'll see how long that holds up. I guarantee you get sick of me by the end of this century."

"Come here." Bucky grabbed the gun, put back the pieces I had managed to pull off, then set it in my hands. Once I had a grip on it, he pulled my earmuffs back over my ears and reached out to hit the button that sent the target back down the lane. Bucky hovered behind me, reaching forward to correctly position me, and telling me little tips to correct me. I tried to focus on what he was saying, Lord knows I needed the help, but all I could think about was how close he stood to me.

I was so worried that after last night he would regress into himself, hide away and simmer in self-hatred, but instead he was down here with one hand on my shoulder and the other under my elbow trying to show me a more consistent way of shooting. It was a reminder that I didn't need to push him at my pace. Bucky was strong. The nightmares in his head were no match for him. I was honored to have a front row seat in watching him kick his demons' asses.

* * *

Clint kicked his apartment door open, and Lucky zoomed in nearly knocking him off his feet. Behind him, Star hesitantly lingered by the doorframe. There was a small red bookbag on her back filled with crayons and paper and any other toy the others had given her. In her arms, was a small duffel bag filled with clothes that she clung tightly to. The girl had her arms wrapped tightly around it. Clint could nearly see the nervous energy radiating off her.

"Hey, it's okay. This is my home." Clint said reassuringly. Star stepped into the apartment and Lucky bounded back over to bury his head into her side. He watched the girl relax a bit. "You're gonna stay here with me and Natasha. You remember Natasha, right?" Star nodded once. "Good."

"Hey."

" _Ah_!" Clint yelled in surprise as Natasha stepped out of their bedroom freshly washed and in casual clothes. Star clung to his arm nervously at his outburst. He reassured her again then turned to his girlfriend, "I thought you were on mission?"

She nodded, "I was and I'm _still_ back before you." Natasha pasted a warm smile on her features, "It's nice to see you again, Star."

Star gave her a small smile but didn't untangle her arm from his. Clint knelt down and squeezed her arms, "Hey, why don't you and Lucky go exploring around the apartment? You're safe here. It's just you, me, and Tash. Okay?"

The little girl nodded, he took the duffel bag from her arms, and then she turned to walk away with Lucky. Natasha gave her another smile before closing the space between them. She quickly pressed a chaste kiss to his lips that he returned eagerly. Natasha shook her head, "Any news from Coulson?"

"The government still wants to use us as puppets and we're one bad day away from inhuman registration country wide." Clint replied. He nodded toward her, "How was the mission?"

"Vision was good. Very helpful." Natasha replied then stepped closer. She set her hands on his chest and looked up at him, "But… we have a problem."

Clint groaned, "Don't we always?"

"Authorities in Greece just arrested _Brock Rumlow_." She said and Clint felt his blood run cold. That was a name he hadn't heard in a long time. In fact, the last time Clint had seen the man he had a building falling on top of him while Sam was leaping out of said building into their helicopter. Clint hated the guy and he hated him for more than just the attempted murder. Rumlow had been an agent. A good agent. Kind of an ass at times, but Clint had trusted him before on missions. This betrayal was personal. Natasha continued, "Rumlow had to be taken to the hospital first. He was beaten pretty badly."

Clint didn't shed a single tear for him, but the news did raise a few questions, "Who the hell beat him up? That wasn't SHIELD was it?"

"Coulson says he knows nothing about it." Natasha replied. "Which means it was either HYDRA, for some reason, or we have a third party on the board. Whoever it was they were looking for information though. The injuries look like the interrogation kind."

" _Shit_." Clint mumbled. That meant the chances were it was probably the latter of the two choices. As if they needed any more enemies. "Where is he?"

"Getting moved to the Playground as we speak. Should be there later tonight."

God, he had just gotten back from the Playground. There was an interrogation room here at the Compound. It was underground and hidden from anyone without the proper clearance, but he didn't like the idea of keeping Rumlow so close to where they slept. For all they knew this could be some kind of trap. It wasn't worth the risk. Not with Aj and Bucky here.

"I assume we're gonna go say hello?" Clint questioned. Natasha gave him a small smile. He sighed once and her smile turned to a questioning look. He stepped back and began to dig into the inner pocket of his jacket, "While we discuss terrible, _terrible_ news." He handed her the folded-up drawing. "Here."

Natasha took it from him, unfolded it, and he saw her face fall in confusion and worry as her eyes traced over the drawing. Her green eyes snapped back up to him, "You have to be kidding me."

"Nope." Clint replied. "We are in _deep_ shit."

* * *

Vision was a good guy. Robot? Android? Synthetic person? I don't know what he was technically, but he was very nice. It had taken me a while to get past the way he sounded, and even now listening to him talk was distracting. His words were Vision, but all I heard was JARVIS. Maybe it was pathetic how much I missed the AI still.

Wanda laughed and I glanced up from my phone to see the ' _not JARVIS'_ smiling down at her. The two always got along really well, and I kind of wished I knew what they were saying. Wanda said something else, still in Sokovian, and Vision replied back in her natural language. I still hadn't gotten to know him very well and if I wasn't so busy trying to help Bucky with his arm and running from Steve every time I spotted him then I would try harder.

"Aj!" I jumped with a cry, phone falling from my hand and clattering onto the kitchen island, as Pietro suddenly stood beside me. He was holding the book I assigned him in his hand with a frown on his face. Pietro waved the ' _Lord of the Flies'_ cover in my face, "What is this? What is this you forced me to read?"

I bit back an amused grin, "You're not a fan of William Golding?"

"I liked his book _very_ much." Pietro argued. "It was quickly becoming my favorite until Piggy _died_! Roger _killed_ him! _How_ could you do this to me!?"

"I didn't personally kill this character. You know that, right?"

"But you made me love him, Aj!" Pietro cried.

Wanda called out something in Sokovian to her brother and he replied back sharply which just made her laugh again. I opened my mouth to offer Pietro a halfhearted apology when Clint Barton swept into the room with an unfamiliar little girl on his back. She was adorable with a cloud of curls around her round features and her gold eyes were glowing unnaturally.

"I have returned!" Clint announced.

"Old man, I never even realized you left." Pietro replied and Clint's face fell in annoyance. The little girl on his back met my gaze but she quickly looked away. She buried her face into Clint's shoulder shyly.

Clint walked closer, "You're still an annoying shit, you know that?"

I clapped my hands once and shook my head, "Clint. Wanna explain what's happening here?" He gave me a confused shrug and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "The child on your back?"

"Oh, right." Clint tilted his head slightly so it lightly tapped against hers, "Guys, this is Star. Star, these are all my friends. They're _very_ nice. Not to me, but to everyone else they're super great."

"Hi, Star." I gave her a little wave when she peeked up at me. Star immediately buried her head back into the shoulder. She was extremely shy apparently. I shot Clint a look, "You're literally just picking kids off the street now, aren't you?"

Clint smirked, "Star is from Asgard." My eyes widened in surprise. "She's hanging out with us until Thor finally swings by to pick her up and..." He bent at the knees slightly with a scrunched-up nose as he pleaded, "…you're babysitting her tonight?"

"I can't." I shook my head. "Any other time, Clint, but I'm about to have a meeting with the ortho surgeon for Bucky's arm."

"Oh, come on."

"Don't ' _come on'_ me. You've given me like zero heads up here."

"Clint," Vision spoke up. He lifted a hand with a friendly smile, "If it's alright with you, I'd be more than happy to look after young Star."

Wanda nodded and chimed in, "I can help too."

"I cannot. _Busy_." Pietro shrugged and disappeared in a blink.

Clint skipped over to the other side of the kitchen island where the two others stood. He hopped enough that Star giggled with every step. I chuckled to myself and turned to head towards the lab. I wanted to check a few things before heading over to the conference room where we'd be meeting Dr. Bass and, his physician assistant, Emily Kim. There was so much riding on this meeting and I was determined to make sure everything was perfect.

* * *

Tony had a great day. He got to spend his entire morning and afternoon with Pepper and the boys, and he just found out that Pepper was gonna be able to stay in New York for the rest of the week. Admittedly, he wasn't overly excited about having the love of his life, his soulmate, staying on the same floor as Bucky Barnes who was still technically a ticking time bomb. Last night could've been a _disaster_. Tony was fully aware of that. He didn't blame Barnes for the episode. With a brain as fried as his was it was inevitable.

"I haven't seen you so dressed up since you were my PA." Tony chuckled. Aj was standing by the end of the table in a white spaghetti strap v-neck blouse tucked into a pair of navy form fitting pants rolled up at the ankle. She had an oversized black cardigan over it all with her long hair pulled up into a high ponytail. He tilted his head, "You should dress like this more often."

"I don't go anywhere anymore." Aj replied while one hand played with the sun and moon charm necklace around her neck. Tony knew she was nervous about this meeting, but he also knew she had no reason to be.

"How's your little dark haired, cuckoo clock doing today?" Tony motioned to his own head as he said it.

Aj stopped being nervous for a second to level a glare at him. She shook her head, "He's actually doing pretty good right now. At least, when I saw him he was."

"We still have to think of a better way to snap him out of his episodes." Tony leaned against the conference table he sat at. The orthopedic surgeon and the Physician's Assistant that worked for him had just landed on the tarmac and someone was going to bring them up to this conference room to talk logistics of fixing Bucky's fucked up arm.

Aj shook her head, "What I did last night worked, Tony. I could snap him out of it over the phone and in person it took _way_ less time. The only hiccup was Steve being there, but now that we know that he's a trigger we can work around it."

"We got _lucky_. If you think me or anyone else is gonna keep letting you run in there—"

"Even Wanda says it's for the best." Aj quickly argued. "She told me that I can interrupt the episodes because I wasn't part of his past! The Winter Soldier has no idea what to do with me. Bucky sees me, hears me, and it clears his head enough to orient himself."

Tony leaned back in his seat and rested his clasped hands on his abdomen, "Okay, so we record your voice and use that, or we can have you call in. Facetime him."

"It's not the same." Aj argued again. "Last night, I was able to _touch_ him. Bring him real comfort, you know?"

"God, now you're _touching him_? At least make him buy you dinner first."

She smirked and knocked her knuckles on the table before pointing at him, "You know what I mean. I know you understand that more than most." Aj paused in thought. "To feel a caress from someone who cares when you only expected pain is…"

Tony sighed. He did understand. There wasn't a single person on their weird little team turned family who didn't understand. There was something religious about a soft hand where you had only felt pain. They'd have to find some other way then.

A knock at the glass door broke their concentration and they both glanced over as people came in. Despite there being a glass wall, they only noticed the guests just now. A receptionist held the door open and allowed the doctor to walk in first. He gave her a thankful nod. The man was in his early forties and built kind of like a lumbar jack. Thick, broad shoulders with a head full of chestnut colored hair and matching thick, neatly trimmed beard. Just replace his suit with a flannel and his briefcase with an axe and you'd have the Bounty paper towel guy.

Behind him was a younger woman, older than Aj still, with jet black hair pulled back into a neat bun. She wore a button up shirt with slacks and a kind smile.

"Good evening. I'm Dr. Darren Bass and this is my associate Emily Kim." The man stepped forward and offered his hand to Aj first. He came across the table to shake his hand as well while the woman greeted Aj.

"Thanks so much for meeting us on such short notice." Tony had stood up to greet them, but he motioned for his guests to take a seat across from him and Aj then sat down when they did.

"Thank you for the private jet." He chuckled. "Traveling here was hardly a chore."

"Dr. Bass—" Aj began.

The physician shook his head with a kind smile, "Please. Just Darren is fine."

"Darren." Aj restarted. "We're so grateful to have you here working with us. Talking to both of you over the phone was great, but I'm glad to have you here so we can really start getting to work."

Tony leaned forward, "There is a small matter of privacy though." He reached into the seat beside him to pull out two folders then slid them across the table. "Anything you say or hear in here is to remain in here. It's kind of like Vegas in that sense."

Darren laughed, "We completely understand."

Tony went over a few more aspects of the disclaimer they were signing. When they finished, they slid the folders back to him and he set them aside. Emily Kim was the next to speak, she readjusted her posture, "We'd like to go over Captain Rogers injuries in a little more detail?"

"It's funny you ask." Aj chuckled. She tapped on the corner of the table and the entire tabletop glowed with life. Darren and Emily's eyes widened as they leaned back in their seat. Tony smirked at their reaction. There was always something about seeing the shock and awe in a stranger's eyes at his technology that warmed his engineering heart. Aj swiped along the table and brought up the x-rays. "We kind of lied to you. Captain Rogers is not the patient. James Buchanan Barnes is."

They look confused until Aj tapped the table again and a picture of the man rose in front of them. It was a recent one they took of him rather than one that could be found in his HYDRA file. It was side by side with a picture of him from the 1940's in his military uniform. Both of the healthcare professionals stared at the picture in a studying fashion.

"James Buchanan Barnes." Darren said slowly. "He was a Howling Commando. He… Didn't he pass during the war?"

"The details of his death were greatly exaggerated." Tony shrugged then swiped at the table to bring out a picture they took of him in the lab. Their eyes widened as they stared at the prosthetic carved into the man's shoulder. "When he fell into the ravine, his believed cause of death, a Nazi organization got their hands on him. Tortured the man. He lost his arm in the fall and their solution was _that_."

Emily quietly gasped and mumbled something in Korean. Darren motioned to the table and Tony nodded once. The doctor tapped on the x-rays to bring them into focus, and he zoomed in on the shoulder itself. He whispered something to Emily as they both looked over every x-ray they had.

"For safety reasons, we'd like to keep the news of his survival and him being here quiet." Aj said. Her fingers played with the bracelet around her left wrist. "The prosthetic they attached to him is permanent. He's never had it removed only updated, but he doesn't know what they did or how they updated it. It hasn't been worked on in over six months and it causes him _constant_ pain."

Darren nodded once, "The fall tore his arm from his body? I suppose we don't have any scans of the injury before this organization…fixed it."

"No." Tony shook his head.

"He's missing the entire joint and most of his collarbone." Emily swiped at the x-rays on the table. She glanced back up at them, "Do you have any other imaging? So we can look at his musculature and tissue?"

Aj shook her head, "No, sorry. We didn't think any pictures would work because of the arm." She motioned to this picture. "He has full range of movement muscle wise."

"The injury is…extensive." Darren let out a low whistle. "Can we meet with him? Examine him in person?"

Tony looked over at Aj and she met his gaze. He tilted his head to them slightly. He may have been the brains behind the actual build of the new prosthetic, but as far as he was concerned she was in charge here.

Aj looked back to their guests, "Absolutely, but before we do that…" She hesitated then straightened her posture. "I'd like to go over our plan and goals of care with you first. It isn't that I'm questioning your motives or skill, but Buck—uh, Sergeant Barnes has been through a _lot_ and we want to avoid putting him on display as often as can. I hope you understand."

Darren nodded, looking to Emily then back to her, and laced his fingers together on the table, "Ms. Bradshaw, I completely understand. Situations like this— _injuries like this_ , create more than just physical damage. We are privileged to be here, to even be considered in helping this American hero—" Tony glanced over at Aj to see her lips twitch up into a small smile, "—and we want to ensure that him and his loved ones are as comfortable as possible. Over the phone, you mentioned you had an idea you wanted to run by us first?"

"Yes." Aj let out a sigh of relief. "FRIDAY, can you bring up the prosthetic blueprints?"

" _You got it, Ms. Bradshaw_."

The lights in the room dimmed and the glow from the table rose from the flat surface as the holographic blueprints appeared between them. Aj rose in her seat and motioned to the hologram, "Our main goal is to create something Sergeant Barnes will be able to remove when he needs to. Originally, we were going to try and do this with the _entire_ arm and shoulder, but then we—"

"Oh, no, no." Tony cut in with a proud smile. "We nothing. This was _your_ idea, Aj. Take credit, my _precious_ little protégé."

Even in the dim lights he could see her roll her eyes with an amused smile. Aj cleared her throat and spun the blueprint to show them what she spoke about, "I don't actually know if any of this is plausible, but we—I was thinking y'all could do a shoulder replacement with something Tony has manufactured in his lab. I know typically shoulder replacement surgery only refers to the glenohumeral joint—" Aj pointed to where the bone of the upper arm sat in the socket joint, "but if we carve out the block of metal HYDRA shoved in there and replace it with a synthetic scapula and humerus then maybe we can treat his arm as if it were amputated just under his deltoid muscle."

Tony watched her explain the blueprints in length. He had created a schematic of a synthetic scapula. It would sit where his real shoulder blade should be, anchored loosely to the back of his ribs just enough to keep it in place but not enough to restrict movement, and then he also designed a synthetic humerus to sit in that ball and socket joint. If properly applied then those portions would be permanent, like a real shoulder, and he would be able to connect and disconnect the actual metal arm from there. It was genius.

"Movement and sensation? The muscles that surround the scapula—" Darren began.

"Right. The rotator cuff. The arm he has now has replaced all the muscles in his lower and upper arm, obviously, but it also replaces his supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, rhomboid minor and major, part of his trapezius, part of his pectoralis, and most of his levator scapulae."

Emily blinked with a small nod, "That…is a lot."

"You don't have to worry about that. The prosthetic I'm creating will have something similar to musculature." Tony reassured them. "Our question is, can you do this surgery? Do you think _that_ —" He pointed at the blueprint "—can be successfully implanted in his body?"

Darren leaned on the table. He had shrugged out of his blazer some time ago and now had his sleeves rolled up. He hummed in thought, "If this was you or me then I would say absolutely not. It's a pipe dream. However, I am gathering that it's safe to assume he isn't like us? To have been born in the 1910's and to have survived all he had."

"Sergeant Barnes is similar to Captain Rogers in healing capabilities." Aj answered.

"Then I guess I have to say it's possible. The idea and design work is _incredible_." Darren complimented in awe. "Surgery would be difficult. I'm sure any tissue around that prosthetic is just straight scar tissue at this point, but if he has survived with it this long then that means his arteries have been correctly rerouted or cauterized. Hypothetically speaking, we'd be going in, taking out the metal, and then putting your design in its place. I have two main concerns."

Tony nodded, "They are?"

"Depending on how much tissue he still has in this area", Darren pointed to an x-ray where it was mostly just a blur of white from the metal, "There might not be enough to hold the new joint in place. If that's the case, then you'll have to change the design some. Perhaps make it a little bulkier."

Tony pulled out his phone and made a quick note of that. Emily was the one to speak up next, "The only other concern is his spine. It's a bit of a mess."

"Exactly." Darren agreed. "I can see here connections to his cervical and thoracic vertebra. Is that how he has sensation, movement, and pain?"

"That's what we're guessing yes." Aj nodded.

Tony pointed to the x-ray, "I've been in touch with a neurosurgeon. Second best in the country."

" _Second best_?" Aj's head snapped to look at him.

Tony clapped his hands, the lights coming back on, and stood up, "How about we show you to the lab? You can see what we're working with and meet the mystery patient, yeah?"

They both glanced over at Aj who stood as well with a tight smile, "Yes. Perfect idea. FRIDAY, can you tell Sergeant Barnes and Captain Rogers to meet us in Tony's lab?" The AI gave her confirmation and they both stood. She motioned to the door, "If you go back out the way you came the receptionist will show you the way to the lab. We'll meet you there."

"Of course." Darren smiled.

He grabbed his coat and motioned for Emily to step out first. The moment they were out of the room, Tony turned to look at Aj with a bright grin, "I like them. Got a good feeling about them. Real salt of the Earth kind of vibes."

"Tony…"

"Also, why have Captain tight pants meet us in the lab? I thought we were both avoiding that asshat." Tony questioned.

Aj pointed at him, taking a step closer, "First off, I know you're angry at him and you have every right, but you know I don't like you calling him names in front of me. Second, I plan on standing here to argue you with you for a good ten minutes so I want someone in the lab with Bucky so he doesn't have to meet Darren and Emily alone. Third—"

" _Ten full minutes_?" Tony groaned. "Can I get the spark notes of this lecture?"

" _Second best neurosurgeon_? What happened to the _best_ neurosurgeon you talked so much about?"

Tony sighed and crossed his arms, "I tried to hire him, but he wouldn't bite. Money, praise, accolades, a small island in the Bahamas… I offered this guy everything and he wouldn't take it."

"You explained the situation to him?"

"As much as I could without having him sign a disclosure agreement." Tony replied. "Guy wasn't interested. Said it wasn't worth his time. When I explained it was experimental surgery, one of a kind, he said it wasn't… uh…"

Aj narrowed her eyes, "Wasn't what?"

"Wasn't worth the risk. He has a reputation to maintain. A success to failure ratio to balance."

"I'm sorry. Did you just tell me that this asshole said he didn't want to do Bucky's surgery because he doesn't want to risk his _success percentage_?" Aj asked slowly in a voice that told him she was mentally preparing to go to war.

Tony held his hands up, "His loss. The surgeon I've been talking to is more than—"

"Bucky deserves the _absolute best_." She said firmly. "Who the hell is this guy?"

"Guy named Stephen Strange." Tony replied. Her eyes widened marginally, just enough to be noticeable, and he tilted his head curiously. "Do you know this guy?"

Aj shook her head, "Not exactly." She glanced away in thought for a second before looking back him with a grin, "Can you finish the rest of this meeting with Darren and Emily? I wanna get this surgery on schedule as soon as possible."

"Where do you plan on going?" Tony asked, but he already knew the answer.

Aj walked to the door and gave him a cute, innocent smile over her shoulder, "Just going for a quick drive."

* * *

If he had any kind of shame right now, Steve might be embarrassed by the fact that he was sprinting to get to the underground parking level where all their private vehicles were kept.

Tony had shown up to the lab after Dr. Darren Bass and Emily Kim had shown up. It was the first time he had been in the lab since they fought, and he was more than content with staying in the lab with his friend. That was until Tony told him that Aj was heading into the city alone. Last night had been rough for many reasons. As glad as he was that Aj had been there for Bucky, their talk had left a bad taste in his mouth.

It was why, after Bucky told him he'd be fine with just Tony, he took off running for the garage. With his speed, it didn't take long at all, but he was still almost too late. Steve entered the garage and spotted Aj making her way to her Jeep.

"Hey!" He called out and closed the space between them. Aj froze up like a deer in headlights and Steve felt bad for that. Not bad enough to give up though. "Heard you're going into the city. Mind if I join?"

"I, uh, _with_ me?" Aj asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah."

She shifted awkwardly from foot to foot, "My Jeep is kind of a mess right now, Steve. Got a lot of stuff on the seats and stuff…"

Steve should've taken that terrible excuse as what it was, but last night he made up his mind. He wasn't going to give up on this. He wasn't going to give up on her. Steve would endure a hundred more awkward moments, a thousand half-assed excuses, and anything else she threw at him. Steve was going to keep trying to fix this until Aj firmly told him that she wanted nothing to do with him.

"I don't mind." He replied with a smile.

"Okie dokie." Aj mumbled and pointed to her car. Steve walked up to the passenger side of the two-door, bright yellow vehicle as she climbed behind the driver's seat. When he opened the door, he saw the mess she spoke of. One jacket, Bucky's jacket actually, was tossed into the passenger seat and that was it. Aj reached over, grabbed the jacket, and tossed it into the back seat. Steve jumped in and pulled his seatbelt on. As she stuck the key into the ignition and started the car up, a familiar song drifted through the radio.

It was the chorus of their song.

Aj scrambled for the dash and slapped her hand against it a few times before the system skipped to the next song. He glanced over at her to see a tint of pink across her cheeks. Aj cleared her throat then mumbled, "Shouldn't take too long to get there."

Steve tried not to actively wilt in his seat. He didn't know what he had to do to fix this, but by God was he willing to try literally anything. Steve just prayed that he wasn't too late. That she wasn't too far gone from him.


	4. We're All Mad Here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: We are one week out from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and y'all when i say that show is gonna fucking kill me it's gonna fucking kill me omg. SIDE NOTE pls leave me comments and reviews! I'm on my usual soap box of begging for that sweet serotonin like the addict I am. Hit me with some words I'm foaming at the mouth rn. For those who do usually leave me stuff you're the bomb dot com.

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_"Some people are a human version of a migraine." –Via_

* * *

I thought for sure there could be nothing more awkward than riding to the city alone with Steve, but then I started my car and the familiar chords of our song blasted through my speakers. It had been the last song I was pathetically listening to earlier that day when a wave of me missing him had reached a crescendo. The amount of times I had listened to ' _Tennessee Whiskey_ ' over the last month and a half was honestly too embarrassing of a number to even mentally think of.

"The weather's gotten real nice." Steve said casually as we drove through the city. It reminded me of the very first time we hung out one on one. Except back then he had been the one driving and I had been the one offering awkward comments on the weather. We had finally come full circle. "Finally warm again."

Internally, I weighed the pros and cons of opening my driver's side door and throwing myself out onto the road while my car moved at 35 miles per hour. Steve would be fine even if the Jeep drove right into a damn building. The guilt of potentially harming a civilian was too high for my liking though. Guess I'd just suffer.

" _Mhmm_." I agreed about the warm weather. He wasn't wrong.

"Tony wasn't very clear. Who are we going to see?"

"Dr. Stephen Strange. He's the neurosurgeon that's refusing to do Bucky's surgery." I replied, keeping my eyes on the road, "But it's for an asshole reason so I wanna talk to him about it."

I was vaguely aware of who Stephen Strange was. Back in the prehistoric, olden days when I was a normal girl just following that pre-med track, I shadowed a few people at New York Hospital. It was the hospital associated with Colombia University so one of my professors had gotten me a connection there. As a pre-med student who hadn't even graduated college yet, I fell somewhere below toxic waste trashcan on the hierarchy of the hospital, but it had been an interesting year. I had never met Dr. Stephen Strange personally, but he had a reputation and his name had been tossed around a lot. Usually with various, colorful curse words.

"You really think you can convince him to do it?"

"I've been known to annoy a person or two into doing what I want."

"I think you're mixing up the words charm and annoy."

The compliment was said so casually, but I felt myself stiffen in my seat. Why couldn't he see that distance was the healthiest thing for him? Bucky had said it best. The guy just didn't know when to give it up. Steve didn't know when to stop fighting, but I could hardly hold that against him. I had the same problem.

It didn't take much longer to get to New York Hospital's parking deck, and the remainder of the ride was quiet. I kept my pace form the car to the hospital quick, to try and put some space between us, but my short stride was no match for his long legs. Steve didn't even break a sweat trying to keep up with me. He was a tall statue of determination wearing an off white henley, the brown leather jacket that made him look god-like, jeans, and a kind, understanding smile that made me want to lunge for a scalpel and gut myself with. This would be a million times easier if he'd be angry at me, but no, instead he had to be a motherfucking sweetheart. Damn it.

When I got to the front desk we were greeted by a look of shock and awe. Well, Steve was greeted by a look of shock and awe. I was mostly ignored. I cleared my throat and began to speak, "Hi, we're here on behalf of Tony Stark. We're looking for Claire Temple."

Steve being here was honestly working in my favor because the receptionist numbly just lifted the phone to call someone, eyes not leaving from Steve's face, with zero questions asked. A few seconds passed before she hung up the phone.

"She, uh, is busy at the moment."

"Can you point us in the direction of the ED?" I asked with a smile that once again was not even noticed. Steve pasted on a matching smile and I was 75% positive that this lady was gonna need a doctor to restart her heart. She shakily lifted a finger to point in a direction. Steve leaned forward to thank her and I rolled my eyes. We began the trek to the ED, dodging people in the hallways, and I couldn't help but speak, "You're too handsome for your own good, you know? That smile is a danger to society and should be responsibly wielded."

"Is my smile a danger to you?" Steve joked. When I glanced over at him though, he was shooting me a smug, charming smirk. It was nice. It felt like before. That wasn't allowed. Despite, feeling the heat on my cheeks I turned and walked a little faster. I was a couple steps away from sprinting. Behind me, I heard Steve sigh, "Aj, _come on_ —"

"ED is close." I interrupted and focused on the task at hand.

We were super not allowed back here like this, but it was amazing what you could do when you tossed around Tony Stark's name and had Captain America tailing you like a lost puppy dog. Nobody stopped or questioned our presence. I could've literally shot someone in the hallway and no passerby would dare speak a word to us. This lack of authoritative attention was exactly why we was able to walk around the ED looking for my old friend.

I spotted her coming out of a room and heading to the nurse's station. Funnily enough, she looked just like she did last time I saw her five-ish years ago. Dark hair messily brushing her shoulders with dark bags under her dark eyes, because the woman didn't know how to take a day off, and sharp, well-defined features.

"Claire!" I called out and began to walk over. She turned, spotted me, and her eyes momentarily widened. Claire Temple was an Emergency Department Nurse who was an absolute miracle worker. During my time here, I ended up shadowing her more than the physician they sent me to because she was willing to show me the ropes and actually teach me. She was a tough woman, took no shit, and she knew medicine better than most.

She turned in her baggy, light blue scrubs and began to storm toward me. I opened my mouth to greet her again, but she immediately grabbed me by my ear, to the bewilderment of Steve, and dragged me back behind the nurse's station while I whined.

" _Hey, that hurts_ —"

" _Why_ did I see you on the news getting kidnapped, and then months later I hear you're _dying_?" Claire scoffed. "Last I saw you, you were accepted into medical school and had a future and then five years later instead of seeing you walking around here as a resident I see you on the news with the _Avengers_? The last news report I listened to said you were a criminal!"

I tried to pull out of her grasp, "That's more or less true, but Captain America standing behind me has to prove that I made a _few_ right decisions since we last talked."

"What hospital did you go to?" Claire snapped. I knew she was talking about my most recent injury since it had been the one all over the news. Apparently, the Avengers hanging around the hospital for a week had raised a few red flags for the paparazzi to notice.

"Mount Sinai in the Upper West Side." I replied and she scoffed. "In my defense, that's Tony Stark's go-to hospital for some reason and since I was unconscious, _and dying_ , I didn't have much choice." Claire let go of my ear to slap me on the back of my head. " _Ow_!"

Claire crossed her arms, "Status?"

I glanced back at Steve who was staring at me in mild confusion before turning back to her. I untucked my camisole out of my dress pants and lifted it enough to show her the scar. Claire's eyes widened and I nodded to confirm her thoughts, "Emergency Splenectomy. No big deal. In and out."

"You died _three times_ before they got you stable, and you had to be in a medically induced coma for days." Steve argued from over my shoulder.

Claire shot me a glare as I dropped my shirt and shrugged, "Devil in the details?"

"You're an idiot."

"I never argued otherwise." I replied back then gave her a wide grin, "How have you been Claire? You look tired. When was your last day off?"

Claire snorted, "About 5 years ago actually." I snickered at her joke and she followed it up with a question of her own. "What are you doing here? Are you the reason the front desk called asking for me?"

"Yeah, I need a favor." I replied sheepishly. My eyes widened, "Oh! Hey, this is Steve Rogers." Steve stepped forward when I introduced him and held out a friendly hand that Claire took. "This is Claire Temple. _Nurse extraordinaire_. She put up with me during undergrad."

"Nice to meet you, ma'am." Steve nodded.

Claire gave him a skeptical look, "Aren't you supposed to be on your death bed with a broken arm or something?" At her words we both froze. _Shit_. I totally forgot about that and based on the look Steve wore he did too. We opened our mouths at the same time to try and explain it, but both of us ineloquently just stumbled over our words like a train wreck. Claire rolled her eyes and stepped to the side to rifle through a drawer. She came back with a sling and held it out to him. "I don't know what you Avengers are up to, but here. A sling for your ' _decimated'_ shoulder."

"Er, thanks." Steve said sheepishly and pulled it on. That'd help anyone who spotted from here on out, but if anyone saw us before this moment we were in trouble. If we got called on that, PR was seriously gonna have my ass.

"As per usual, you're my life saver, Claire." I chuckled and a thought occurred to me. It had been so long since I spoke to Claire. A part of me expected the outcome of this to be her not working tonight or her not remembering who I was at all. I crossed my own arms, "I'm kind of surprised you actually remember me. It has been a hot minute."

Claire rolled her eyes, "Back to this favor?"

"I need a meeting with Dr. Strange." I said with a grimace.

She furrowed her brows in confusion, "Why?"

"Long story short, I need a neurosurgeon for my friend, and I will accept nothing but the absolute best." I held one hand out at her while I spoke. "He already said no but—"

"If he already said no then what is there left to talk about?"

"He said no to Tony Stark, not to me."

Claire blinked once then quickly shook her head, "Right because there's no way Stephen Strange could resist _your_ charm."

Steve glanced over at me with a small smile, and I rubbed the back of my neck. Claire gave me a firm look and I shrugged, "Lemme shoot my shot, Temple."

"I'm an ED nurse. Stephen Strange wouldn't look my way if I were literally on fire." Claire replied dryly. I clasped my hands together and shot her the most pleading look I could manage. She sighed, "Alright fine, I know someone who can get you an audience with the _OR Emperor_. But you owe me lunch so we can talk about why you threw your _entire life away_ to join an _illegal fighting ring_ , you _dumbass_."

I scrunched my nose up and mumbled, "Still not crazy about the world knowing so much about me and my poor life decisions." Claire pointed at me before turning and leaving to find whoever it was that could help me. I crossed my arms and glanced back over at Steve finally. He was already staring at me with that same small smile. "I shadowed Claire in undergrad back when I was trying to get into medical school."

"You don't talk about that period of your life very much." Steve said.

"There isn't much worth talking about." I mumbled and glanced down at my feet. The four years I spent in college weren't bad per say they were just… stagnant. Nothing of note really happened. It was just four years of me drifting from day to day, mentally and emotionally checked out. I studied and learned and slept and ate and worked out, but, beyond that, I did nothing. There were people I knew, like Claire, that I spoke to and technically treated as a friend, but I never put any kind of effort into the relationship outside of our dedicated time. I had been a ghost.

Steve cleared his throat, "I'm sure there's gotta be something worth talking about. You and Claire seem close. Five years passed and the moment you showed back up she recognized you and was happy to help."

"That's because Claire is a superhero in scrubs." I argued. "She's the kind of person who'd do anything to help someone in trouble."

There was another awkward beat of silence where I refused to meet his eyes. At the very least, I owed him a more thorough explanation on why distance was good for him, but I couldn't. I couldn't do it and there was no good reason why. I was just scared. _Weak_. It made me hate myself more than I usually did on a regular basis which is wild since I didn't think my self-confidence could get any lower. I was below sea level at this point.

"Aj", Claire came back, and I mentally thanked every deity watching my shit show of a life from the heavens. Beside her was another woman who wore a long white coat over her dark blue scrubs. She had light brown hair and hazel green eyes. The doctor had a pretty smile. "This is Dr. Christine Palmer. She's Dr. Strange's ex-girlfriend."

Dr. Palmer chuckled, "I wish that wasn't the thing I was most famous for, but here we are."

"It's nice to meet you. Like Claire said, I'm Aj and this is Steve." I motioned to the man standing beside me.

"Yeah, I know. Unlike me, you guys are famous for _interesting_ reasons." Dr. Palmer replied. "Claire says you need to talk to Stephen?"

I nodded, hands clasped together nervously, "Please. I want to convince him to work on my friend's case. He said no to Tony Stark, but I'm not willing to leave it at that." She twisted her lips sheepishly then motioned for me to follow her. I took a step, Steve moving to follow, but I turned to stop him, "I'll be right back. How about you stay here, yeah?"

"Uh…"

Before he could finish his statement, I whipped around and hurried after Dr. Palmer. The two of us walked out of the Emergency Room and she glanced at me once. It looked like she wanted to question what had just happened, but she didn't ask me about it and for that I was grateful.

"Listen, Stephen is a good guy. I know not a lot of people think that because he can be… _a lot_." Dr. Palmer began. "But deep down he means well. When it comes to surgery though, he's picky with what he works on. He's absolutely brilliant but he puts a lot of focus on his reputation. Just...maybe you shouldn't get your hopes up."

"I just want an opportunity to plead my case."

Dr. Palmer gave me a smile, "That I can get you. He's in surgery still, emergency case I sent his way, but he should be done relatively soon." She had led me down a few halls and up an elevator until we got to the surgery wing of the hospital. Dr. Palmer motioned for me to have a seat on a bench. "He has to walk right by here in order to leave."

"Thank you so much, Dr. Palmer." I said. "This means a lot to me."

"Of course. I hope he sees it your way." She chuckled and gave me a small wave before heading back to the ED. I sunk down onto the bench and leaned my head against the wall behind me. There really wasn't a plan in my head for this just a loose structure I planned on following. Beyond all that though, at least I wasn't standing in the ED awkwardly staring at my feet to avoid meeting Steve's gaze.

* * *

This was not going well. Steve didn't need to be a genius like Tony to know that this trip with Aj was an absolute disaster. Socially, at least. Everything he said came out _awkward_. He knew that he had no skills talking to women he was attracted to, but Aj had always been different. Talking to her had _always_ been so easy. It was one of the reasons why he fell so hard, so fast. It was also why this awkwardness was ten times worse.

"Hey, Captain America," Claire Temple caught his attention, "I'm gonna need you to wait for Aj in the lounge. You're starting to distract people."

"Oh, sorry." He quickly followed after her. Claire led him through a door off to the side that opened into a small room. The room had a fridge, a few tables, and a wall of lockers. One of the walls had a bulletin board hanging up with various pictures of families and cards.

Claire pointed to a table, "Take a seat. Relax. You can have anything in the fridge that doesn't have a name on it and the coffee in the pot is probably only 24 hours old."

"Thanks." Steve chuckled. He held his hand out to stop her before she could leave, "I'm sorry, I'm sure you're crazy busy—"

"This _is_ a New York Emergency Room."

"But can I ask you a question?"

Claire crossed her arms and gave him a casual shrug, "Sure. What is it?"

Steve wasn't entirely sure how to phrase his thoughts. He rolled it around in his head a few more times before clearing his throat, "You knew Aj back when she was in college… that was the last time you spoke to her?" Claire nodded. "How… You haven't seen Aj in so long. A lot of people tend to get upset when they don't hear from someone they consider a friend after some time but…"

Claire chuckled and hung her head for a second, "How long have you known Aj?"

"Nearly 6 months." Steve replied quickly.

"Then I'm sure you know." Claire took a step forward with a smirk. "If someone I thought was a friend disappeared off the face of the earth never to speak to me again then yeah, I'd be a little pissed." She shook her head with another soft chuckle. "But Aj is… _different_. Back then she was distant, didn't open up to anyone, but anyone around her could feel her… dedication? Loyalty? She'd wage a war at the drop of a dime for anyone around her." Steve nodded. "Let's say 10 years had passed— _15 years_! I know, without a doubt, if I _ever_ needed her, for literally anything, I could show up on her door unannounced to ask and she would do it without hesitation. How could I not offer her the same?"

Steve grinned at her words, "She said the same thing about you."

"Even I have my limits." Claire held her hands up in mock surrender. She shook her head, "Aj doesn't. It's actually kind of dangerous. I always worried about her. I've never seen someone with so little self-preservation."

Claire Temple wasn't wrong. It was common knowledge that Aj was reckless with her own life and health. He hadn't thought about it specifically, but his question was honestly a stupid one. Steve should've known. He felt the same way as Claire. Even now, with their relationship being so tense, a part of him knew that if he truly needed help with something she'd be there for him. Clint had told them that Aj once admitted that she'd do anything for the sister that abandoned her. Aj could stow away a huge source of all her trauma to help the person who did nothing but hurt her.

Claire spoke up and interrupted his thoughts, "She's happier. I can tell. Granted, whatever is going on between the two of you is really weird and awkward but she's happy." Steve smiled. "Did you two break up or something?"

"No." Steve said quickly then shook his head, " _Wait_ , I mean, we weren't—we _aren't_ dating. That's just the tabloids and rumors."

She raised an eyebrow at him while smirking then gave him a small wave, "Nice to meet you, Captain."

Steve watched her leave and slowly fell into the flimsy plastic chair beside one of the tables. He tugged at the uncomfortable sling. As much as he didn't want to wear it, he figured he shouldn't tempt fate any further than they had already.

Aj didn't have any self-preservation. He knew that. Steve also knew she was the least forgiving person when it came to her own sins. Aj would walk through fire for a stranger, but she could never look in the mirror and cut herself any sort of slack. Was that one of the issues here?

It didn't make sense that Aj would hate him forever. As much as he hated to say it, Steve could literally commit murder and the woman would find a way to forgive him for it. So, in this impasse they found themselves at… was it less her forgiving him and more her being unable to forgive herself? Because he loathed the idea of that. Steve had forgiven her ages ago. All he wanted was to make her laugh, to hold her, to have his friend back.

Steve's phone went off and he shifted to pull it out of his pocket. Natasha's picture flashed on the screen. Her and Clint had left for the Playground hours ago last he heard. He quickly answered it, "Hello?"

" _How's it going with Aj_?"

"Incredibly awkward." Steve admitted. "Do you need something?"

" _If I didn't actually need something I would be insulted at your tone_." Natasha replied slyly. Her tone shifted back into a more serious one. " _Long story short, I'm looking at Rumlow right now_."

Steve pushed himself out of his seat in a panic, "What!?"

" _Don't panic_."

"Nat."

" _He got arrested in Greece and SHIELD picked him up. Whoever originally got their hands on him really messed him up_." Natasha continued. " _Clint's in the room with him right now asking questions_."

Steve rubbed the back of his neck, "Jesus. What do we know?"

" _That he's still a complete asshole_." Natasha replied with ease. Steve opened his mouth to tell her to be serious, but she cut him off before he could. " _He's giving us nothing, but we just started. It'll be a long night for Clint._ "

Steve narrowed his eyes at the words, "You aren't staying?"

" _I've been on mission all day today, Rogers. Clint can handle annoying a traitor into talking with Coulson and May alone. Do I have permission to come home and relax, Captain_?"

"Of course. I'm sorry, Nat." He shook his head. The frustration of figuring things out with Aj were slipping into this conversation. Steve sighed, "Maybe I should head out there."

" _Don't. Clint has this handled, I promise. Come tomorrow morning we'll have answers_." Natasha said firmly. " _You focus on the Aj situation_." He began to protest, but she cut him off again. " _Handle this shit tonight, Rogers, or I swear to God I'm going to lock both of you in the safe room_."

Steve hummed an affirmative and Natasha said a quick good-bye. He ended the call and dropped back down into the chair. This was a good step in the right direction. They'd get some answers from Rumlow and get closer to putting an end to whatever Strucker had planned. Steve kind of wished he could be there to end this himself. Dealing with Rumlow would definitely be easier than trying to settle the situation he had on his hands. He just wished he had some sort of clue on what to do.

* * *

_'The kids are still good. Aubrey said she'd be home in a couple weeks. How do you feel?'_

_'Glad to hear it. I'm fine like I said the last 12 times.'_

Granny texted me one more time telling me she loved me, and I returned it in kind. She had wanted to come up to see me after I had been hospitalized, but she hadn't been able to find someone to leave the kids with. Granny nearly dragged the kids up with her, but Tony had convinced her that I was fine. The constant video calls after I finally woke up had also helped.

I wondered if I should ask more about Aubrey, but I didn't even know how to begin that conversation. The Avengers knew that my sister was somehow involved in this HYDRA nonsense, but there was no clue or trail of crumbs that led to any sort of answer.

The sound of doors swinging open made me startle in my seat. Coming out from the restricted halls, where the operating rooms were, was a tall, lean man wearing navy blue scrubs. He was handsome, but his features were harsh and sharp. The guy had cheekbones that could cut glass. He ripped the disposable surgery cap off his dark hair and the disposable shoe covers off his dress shoes then tossed them into the trash.

"Dr. Strange?" I called out while rising to stand.

The man shot me a nonchalant glance and continued to walk past me as he spoke, "Who's asking?"

"I'll take that as a yes." I mumbled and jogged after him. "My name is Aj Bradshaw—"

"The Avenger girl from the news." Dr. Strange scoffed. "I assume that means you know Tony Stark and you're here to bother me with the _same_ question." He came to a sudden stop and I nearly stumbled trying to stop beside him. Dr. Strange turned to face me with a skeptical glare, "Who even let you back here?"

I smirked, "Your ex-girlfriend actually."

" _Christine_." He growled under his breath and turned to leave again, but I slid in front of his path to stop him. "Tony Stark already offered me more money than even I can fathom and countless other things. I doubt you have anything else to offer me that would sway—"

"Oh, no, no." I shook my head with a smile, "I'm not here to offer you anything. I'm here to tell you that you should take this case."

Dr. Strange raised an eyebrow at me and crossed his arms, "How exactly do you expect this to end any differently? Especially since your tactic is to offer me _less_ than previously offered."

I held my chin up high, unintimidated by him, "You don't give a damn about Tony's money. You're the best neurosurgeon in America, maybe the world, which is why I know you make plenty of that on your own." Dr. Strange's lips twitched up in amusement and I was positive that was just because I had complimented him. "And I know you're not turning down this case because of a lack of interest. Tony told you the details available. This is a once in a lifetime kind of case."

"So?"

"So that means the only reason you turned it down was because of your _damn_ ego." I said firmly. "You care more about your _stupid_ reputation than you do the care of this patient."

Dr. Strange scoffed, "He isn't my patient. I don't have to give a damn about him. There are plenty of other neurosurgeons in the world. Get one of them." He tried to move past me, but I slid in his way again. His amusement was replaced by irritation. "Don't make me call security on you. I'd never hear the end of it from Christine."

"I don't want any neurosurgeon. I want the best." I snapped. "If you're as good as everyone says you are than this surgery should be a walk in the park."

" _Walk in the park_?" Dr. Strange laughed rudely. "Tony Stark comes to me asking for me to work on an Avengers case but doesn't even offer me any imaging. You people want me to cut into this man's spine without any eyes. _Completely blind_. For all I know the moment I open him up, his nerves will look like a ball of _spaghetti_." He took a step toward me, the man was towering over me, but I refused to stumble back. "I will _not_ attach my name to a case that is doomed to fail."

I shook my head, "The case will fail if I get anyone below your skill level. You're the _best_. If it's going to succeed then we need you."

" _I don't care_." Dr. Strange rebutted then pushed past me.

After taking a steadying breath, I whipped around and chased after him again. I stepped into his path and the look on his face told me that the doctor was considering strangling me right here in the hospital hall.

"You don't want to do this because you're a cowardly bastard who refuses to take the risk and help someone who needs it because you want to maintain your ' _perfect'_ record."

Dr. Strange raised an eyebrow at me again skeptically, "Have you done this before? Because you're absolutely terrible at it."

I gave him a tight smile, "We don't want this to be public. If, God forbid, something goes wrong then you don't have to take the blame for it. Your name doesn't have to be associated with this case unless it ends well, and you want it to." Dr. Strange actually seemed _mildly_ interested at this which made me want to _mildly_ punch him in the face. "Reputation wise this is all reward and no risk for you."

"I suppose that makes this somewhat better." Dr. Strange hummed. "It is an interesting case. Still, the answer is no."

" _Why_? You had a reason, and I fixed that reason. Plus, you're still gonna get the damn money and whatever else Tony promised you!"

Dr. Strange smirked, "Because you and Stark _annoy_ me."

He began to walk away again, but when I let out a laugh he stopped and turned back around to look at me. I grinned and crossed my arms, "You think I'm annoying?"

"Incredibly so." He narrowed his eyes.

"Well, this _annoying girl_ has no real job." I took a step forward, smug, "And I know where you work. And I was recently shot in the gut and nearly _died_ —" Dr. Strange's face twisted in confusion, "—so my sleep schedule is absolute _shit_ right now. Which is my long-winded way of saying that I can be here at this hospital for more than _15 hours a day_ just to annoy the shit out of you." His face fell in aggravation and my smirk grew. "I'm a dog with a bone, Strange, you aren't getting rid of me anytime soon."

Dr. Strange stormed closer to me, but I just beamed up at him as he glared down at me. There was a tense moment between us where I was half worried that he would straight up commit murder, but after a few more seconds I noticed a look in his eyes. The look wasn't so much ' _I'm gonna throat punch this annoying brat'_ and more ' _how the hell did I let this bitch wear me down?_ '.

It was my favorite kind of look.

"So, do you have Tony's contact information, or should we trade numbers?" I motioned between us with my hands.

Dr. Strange rolled his eyes, "Get the hell out of my hospital." He shook his head and stormed down the hall again. Before he disappeared out of sight, he called out over his shoulder, "Email me his case file, _Stark Jr_."

It took all my self-control to not jump up and down in the halls in excitement. Bucky had a neurosurgeon. He had the _best_ damn neurosurgeon that anyone could have. I bounced in place once, pulling my phone out to text Tony with the news, and then hurried towards the elevators. Tony seemed as thrilled as I was about the news, but also a little peeved that I managed to do what he couldn't.

When I re-entered the Emergency Room I only got a few steps in when Claire intercepted me. She held her hands out, "Well?"

"I have a neurosurgeon." I said while twisting in place, hands held behind my back. Claire chuckled with a slight shake of her head. "Did you doubt me, Temple?"

"Only for a minute." Claire gave my arm a squeeze and pointed me toward a door off to the side where she had stored Captain America. I walked into the nurse's lounge and when I stepped in Steve's eyes snapped to mine.

He stood up and held his un-slinged hand out in a questioning motion, "What's the news?"

I grinned, "We got a neurosurgeon!"

"Hey! I knew you could do it!" Steve cheered with his arm still outstretched and an excited smile on his face. I bounced in place again and hurried forward to throw my arms around his neck tightly. Steve wrapped the arm not in a sling around me and squeezed. "That's my girl."

At his words, I realized where I was. I pulled back quickly, but Steve's hand at my waist kept me from pulling back to far. We stared at each other for a tense moment. His lips were parted with an unsaid statement, and I could feel an apology hanging from my own lips. A million years could've passed in a blink and I wouldn't have even noticed.

"Aj…" He said softly.

Panicked, I pushed off him and shook my head, "We—We need to get back before it, uh, gets too late. Let's go."

I didn't wait for him to reply and turned on my heel, face on fire. I'd find Claire to say good-bye, find Christine to thank, and then I'd get in my car and ride back to the Compound with Steve in what I was sure to be the most awkward forty minutes of my entire damned life.

* * *

"He's still not talking."

Coulson chuckled to himself and glanced over at May who had walked in with a look somewhere between exhausted and annoyed, "Are we surprised?"

May's lip twitched up in brief amusement and she nodded toward the one-way glass that separated them from the interrogation room, "I don't know. If I had to be stuck in a room with Clint Barton for more than 15 minutes, I think I'd crack."

Coulson laughed under his breath and the humor was a great break from the monotony of the last five hours. Natasha had thrown in the towel thirty minutes ago and had boarded a quinjet to head back to the Compound. He didn't blame her. The red head had been out on mission all day with Vision when he had to break the news to her that they had found Rumlow in the first place.

"Aw come on, buddy. You're starting to hurt my feelings." Clint's voice drifted through the speaker. Coulson pushed off the back wall to step closer to the one-way glass. Rumlow was a mess. Nearly this time last year, the building that had collapsed on him had left him disfigured and scarred. If that wasn't enough, now he sported various injuries that painted his skin shades of purple, red, and yellow. Three fingers on his left hand were broken, some ribs on his right side were fractured, and the deep gash at his hairline told Coulson that the guy was probably nursing a concussion. "I can listen to myself talk literally _all day long_. It's a gift. Now, I'll ask for the 84th time today: Why the hell does Strucker want the Bradshaw sisters?"

May hummed from beside him, "What do we know about the Bradshaw sisters?"

Since Rumlow was still ignoring Clint, he turned to face the agent and his old friend, "You know Aj. Abandoned orphan turned pre-med student turned _nearly_ a medical student turned illegal underground ring fighter turned Avenger."

"We know all of that, but we still don't know _why_ she was _any_ of that. She isn't inhuman but there's no way in hell she's human."

Coulson raised an eyebrow at her, "Not human? Are you thinking—what? Alien?"

"I'm thinking we've seen a lot of wild shit and she's included in that category." May replied. He bobbed his head in thought. Unfortunately, the theory of Aj being alien wasn't farfetched these days. Her history was pretty soundproof. There was no evidence of a UFO dropping her off in her early years. "But what about her sister?"

"Aubrey Joan Bradshaw." Coulson shrugged. "Born in Summerbrooke, Alabama in 1984. Aged out of the foster system when Aj was 14 and left her there, ran away with her now husband. She has three children. And last I heard she was vacationing somewhere while Aj's last foster mother babysits her kids back in Alabama."

"Do we know if _she's_ inhuman?" May asked.

"We can always try and track her down and see if she's bought fish pills recently." Coulson shrugged. If Aubrey turned out to be inhuman maybe that would make a little more sense. That would mean they both had alien ancestors but only Aubrey had the gene to be activated. Maybe Aj's was just showing through in a different way?

A deep chuckle made both May and him stiffen. They slowly turned back to the glass to see that Rumlow was chuckling to himself and that now the chuckles were turning into a loud, roaring laughter. Clint was tense in his own seat across from him, shoulders stiff. Coulson locked his jaw.

Rumlow let his lips curl up into a ghastly grin, "Oh, Barton. Baby Bradshaw is your friend, huh?" Coulson watched Clint's fists curl up into balls against the table. He silently begged his old friend to not take the bait. The bastard was obviously just trying to get a rise out of him. Rumlow leaned in close, still smirking arrogantly, "She's not really my type. Runs that mouth too much when it could be doing _much more_ productive things. Beggars can't be choosers though, I guess, and besides…I'm still _really_ gonna enjoy killing her with my _bare hands_."

It was the final straw on the camel's back.

Clint leaped over the table and tackled Rumlow to the ground as he began to wail on the man. Coulson and May took off to try and get into the room and stop Hawkeye from murdering their one lead on this case. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

I was speed walking away. To the point where my arms were literally pumping by my side to push me forward. Put a sweat band around my head and a pair of leg warmers around my calves and I'd look like a middle-aged mom exercising in the park.

"Aj!" I tried to move faster, but I was no match for super solider speed. Not without breaking out into a pathetic full out sprint, and even then I'd only get so far. "Aj!" His voice yelling out my name echoed in the empty lobby around us. A warm hand wrapped around my upper arm and spun me around, "Hey!"

I was facing Steve now and he loosened his grip so the palm of his hand just lightly brushed against my skin. The only lights on around us were the lobby's emergency ones which filled the room with a dim glow. It was plenty of light though. Enough that I could see Steve's face crumple in sadness.

"I'm sorry." He said softly. " _I'm sorry_. I didn't want to upset you like this. I just…" Steve took in a sharp breath. "I miss you and I _know_ I hurt you—"

"God, Steve stop!" I snapped and yanked myself away from his grasp. "Hurt me? _Hurt me?_ Steve, I hurt _you_!"

I hated this. My entire chest was aching, and I didn't know what to say to make him understand. Steve's eyebrows furrowed at my words, but I didn't give him the opportunity to speak. I wrapped my arms around myself tightly, in order to keep myself in one piece, "The last thing I _ever_ wanted to do was hurt you and that's _exactly_ what I fucking did."

"You didn't—"

" _Don't_!" I cut him off. "I _did_ hurt you and I _can't_ risk doing it again. I don't trust myself around you, Steve. I _purposely_ made a decision that I _knew_ was gonna crush you and even now…" I scoffed at myself, my throat beginning to feel tight, "I'd do it again, Steve." My lower lip quivered, and I knew I was about to start crying. "If I could go back in time I'd make the _same_ damn decision even knowing that it'd hurt you. What the _hell_ does that say about me? What happens when we get put into another situation like this? I can't trust myself not to break your heart."

Steve slowly stepped closer, "The good news is, Bucky was the only long lost best friend I had so the odds of this happening again…"

" _Steve_."

"Listen to me, sweetheart." Steve said softly. He came even closer and lifted a hand to my face. His thumb swiped away the tears that had slipped from my eyes. The tip of his tongue ran over his lower lip before he bit down on it. Steve nodded once, "I'm _proud_ of what you did. You _saved_ Bucky, Aj. God, I owe you _everything_ for that." I shook my head tightly, but Steve's grip on my face stopped me from doing it more. "I _want_ you to make those decisions. Aj, you do what you think is right and I _love_ —" Steve's jaw clenched briefly. "That's one of the many things I _admire_ about you. Before, I was upset because I had created this version of you in my head and I expected one behavior but… That was on me. You're your own person and I shouldn't have expected you to do something just because I wanted that of you."

I bit down on my own lip hard before speaking, "None of this was on you."

"Aj, we may not always agree on each other's choices or opinions. This is a prime example of that." He chuckled. "But I will _always_ be proud of you for doing what you think is right. I'm sorry I lost sight of that."

"I'm sorry I hurt you." I said softly. He shook his head, but I kept going, "Steve, you are _so_ important to me. I can't… not being around you the last month and a half was _torture_ , but—but what if I hurt you again?"

Steve's hands slid down my shoulders to hold the sides of my arms. He squeezed them once and gave me a bright smile. The kind of smile that always made me feel like things were going to be alright. He chuckled, "You were hungover, but…do you remember what I told you that morning after Thanksgiving? After we talked about you not wanting to hurt me?"

"No." I shook my head, and it was the truth.

Steve pulled me into his arms, I let my arms loosely slide around him, and he rested his cheek on the top of my head, "I said the risk would be worth it to have you in my life, and that's the honest to God truth. Even if the chances of me being hurt are 99%, I don't give a damn." He turned his head, lips at my hair line, "Aj, I just want you in my life."

A sob fell from my lips and I buried my face into his chest. My arms tightened around him and I absolutely melted. God, I missed him. I knew I missed him, of course I knew that, but being in his arms took it to a whole new level. Steve pulled away too soon, but he moved his hands to my face and swiped away my tears again.

He chuckled, "Can we agree that we're both idiots and go back to normal _please_?"

"Yes." I nodded with a strangled laugh of my own. "I'd like that a lot."

Steve grinned down at me smugly, "So, does this also mean when our song comes on you won't punch your fist through your car's dash to stop it?"

With another laugh, I shoved him away from me, "You _ass_. I changed it because it was _embarrassing_!" Steve raised an eyebrow at me questioningly. I crossed my arms and tried to pout, but my smile wouldn't falter. "I would listen to the song anytime I missed you. I think my damn phone has played it a hundred times this past month."

Steve's smirk grew. He reached out to hook a finger in one of my front belt loops and pulled me closer, "That's cute."

"Oh, shut up."

"No, no." He shook his head, grinning down at me, "It's very cute. _You're_ very cute."

My eyes drifted up to his hair, "You know what's actually cute? Your damn hair. I've been waiting so long to say something." I lifted a hand, and he lowered his head slightly so I could messily rake my fingers through his long, slicked back hair. "It's _so_ long!"

"Do you like it?" Steve asked sheepishly.

"I haven't decided if I like the long look or the short one better." I hummed and pulled my hand back, his hair all mussed on his head now. "But regardless you'll always be Captain Handsome."

Steve chuckled, "Am I _still_ that on your phone?"

"Always." I closed the space and pulled him into another hug. Listening to his heart, feeling heat radiating off him, made my fear all the more real. Steve said I was worth the risk, but my sad little brain couldn't even begin to fathom that. If I hurt him again it'd be the death of me. I lightly pushed away from him again and lifted a hand to set on the side of his face. He gave me a questioning look and I shook my head, "Steve, I _really_ am so sorry. God, I'll never be able to say it enough. I'm sorry, and I'm—"

Steve set his hand over mine, pulled it away, and set a kiss on the back of my hand with a smile. He chuckled, keeping his hands around mine, "No more apologizing. Deal?" I nodded and his eyes widened. "Oh, and while we're on this." Steve let go of my hand to pull out his phone. I furrowed my eyebrows and watched as he pulled back the case to pull out a familiar folded sheet of paper. He tucked his phone back into his pocket then opened it up to show me the note I had left him. Steve gave me another soft look and he tore the note up. "I hope you know that what you wrote was literally the _dumbest_ thing I've ever read."

"Oh yeah, then why'd you keep it?" I argued with a chuckle.

"To remind myself that I was a _goddamn_ idiot." Steve said.

I pushed my hand against his chest again, "Does Bucky know you're cursing in front of a _gentle dame_ like me?"

Steve rolled his eyes, "No, he doesn't, and if you snitch on me to him then I can't guarantee I won't come after you." He slid his hand into mine and began to drag me away. "You up for Netflix tonight?"

"Captain, are you asking me to _Netflix and chill_?" I scrunched my nose at him.

He squeezed my hand and looked back at me, "I'm asking you to Netflix and _stop snarking at me_."

"Oh, you know you love it." I retorted.

Steve's eyes softened, "Yeah. Yeah, I do."

I pulled the hand he was holding toward me so I could wrap my other hand around it as well, "I also have another embarrassing confession." He nodded once and I continued. "I haven't watched any Walking Dead without you. I'm super far behind."

"I guess I have a confession too then." Steve smirked. "I haven't watched a single episode without you either."

My insecurities and fears still screamed in my hand, but there was something about Steve that just made a person feel like they could be bigger than what they were. Steve Rogers could lead me straight into hell, but with my hand in his, the flames wouldn't even give me pause.

* * *

Bucky ran the dish in his hands under the faucet. His mind was still reeling over the meeting he had with Dr. Bass and Ms. Kim. He had been hesitant as hell, but they were truly amazing people. Dr. Bass had been sincere when they spoke. With no fear, he had taken his hand, shook it, and told him that he was honored to work with him. Dr. Bass had called him a war hero. Both him and Ms. Kim had been so excited to go over their thoughts on the surgery. Then Tony came back with news that Aj had roped in America's number one neurosurgeon?

The amount of people gathering to help him was unbelievable. He was the least deserving person on this plant for this kind of help, and he wondered if these genuine, talented people would still be happy to help him if they knew of his sins. They advertised him as a ' _prisoner of war, tortured, war veteran'_ , but they always left out the people he murdered in cold blood. They always left out details of the Soldier.

Bucky tensed at the sound of breaking glass and he glanced down to realize his metal hand had gripped a mug too tightly and it had exploded into shards of ceramic. He dropped the remaining pieces into the sink and stared at the metal as he clenched and unclenched his hand into a fist. One lapse in judgement was all it took. He stopped paying attention for just a second and look what happened.

He shook the water off his hands and rubbed at the back of his neck. The sound of the front door opening made him straighten his posture and push his worried thoughts into the corner of his head. Steve stepped into view, absolutely beaming, and he took that as a very good sign.

"That dorky grin makes me think your trip into the city was a good one." Bucky called out.

Steve nodded and walked over to lean on the counter, "Me and Aj made up. We cleared the air, and everything is fine between us. Plus, we also got you a neurosurgeon—well, Aj did. I sat in a nurse's lounge and moped."

"Sounds about right." Bucky joked.

"Shut up, jerk." Steve chuckled. He pushed up off the counter and it was only then that his smile faltered. Bucky grew briefly concerned. "Hey, Aj and I wanted to do a Netflix night tonight."

Bucky leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest and his left ankle over his right, "Where's the problem?"

"Are you gonna be okay tonight without me?" Steve shook his head sheepishly. "I mean, I'd love to invite you, maybe sometime we could do one the three of us, but tonight I kind of wanted…"

Steve was tall, broad, and built of just muscle. Sometimes Bucky could hardly recognize his friend, but in moments like this he saw the punk kid he grew up with. Awkward and nervous around any pretty gal that would look his direction. Bucky gave him a small smile, "Stevie, I'm 98 years old. I think I can handle one night on my own without a babysitter."

"I know, I know. I just feel bad leaving you here." Steve replied.

Bucky snorted and turned to the fridge to grab a water bottle, "You gonna try and take me on all your dates?" After he grabbed one and went back to face his friend he was surprised to see a look of nervousness on the blond's features. "What?"

" _Is_ this a date?" Steve asked. "We used to do this all the time and I never got to actually ask her out. Ultron interrupted that. But…Is it?"

"The gal usually has to know she's on a date for it to be considered one." Bucky replied and his voice came out sharper than he intended it to. Steve didn't seem to notice, and he nodded in agreement with another nervous chuckle. He rubbed his jawline, "You said it yourself. The two of you used to do this all the time. You don't need to be so nervous, punk, you're overthinking it."

Steve's shoulders relaxed marginally, "Right. You're right. I'm gonna go change really quick."

Bucky watched Steve move toward his room and he mentally tried to work out his own thoughts. _Why had he snapped_? Steve and Aj were good friends. _Very_ good friends. Bucky was actually super happy that they had finally made up. Despite the front they had put up, he could see how the tense relationship weighed on each of them. Now they'd both be happy. That's what he always wanted.

Bucky wanted Steve and Aj to be happy and safe.

That's exactly what they were.

They were safe in this billion-dollar compound, and now they were _really_ happy. They'd have their movie night, they'd settle back into their usual relationship, and one thing might lead to another. _One thing might lead to another_. Wasn't that his plan? Steve and Aj would be an ideal couple, and while he was here shouldn't he do everything he could to help his awkward friend nab the dame of his dreams?

The thought of Steve and Aj going on a date didn't just put a bad taste in his mouth. It made him sick to his stomach. He hated it. He hated that feeling because he had no fucking right to feel it. Bucky was getting ahead of himself. He stamped down the thoughts as Steve walked back out of his room in just a tight t-shirt and sweatpants.

"You know you're not as scrawny as you used to be, right? You can get bigger shirts now." Bucky called out.

Steve laughed at his jab, "Are you sure you're okay here on your own?"

"Will you get the hell outta here, punk?" Bucky replied.

"If you need me, you know where to find me." Steve replied.

He nodded and gave his best friend a small wave. Bucky heard the front door shut and he pressed his lips together tightly. Before he could drown himself in self-loathing thoughts, Bucky grabbed his book and dropped down on the couch in the living room. He settled in, getting lost in the story, but only half an hour later he was interrupted.

" _Mr. Barnes, Ms. Romanoff is at your door_." FRIDAY chimed.

"Why?" Bucky blurted out, but he hadn't meant it as an actual question for the faceless, talking robot voice hiding in the ceiling. He tossed his book aside and got up to answer the door himself. Maybe the assassin was finally here to kill him.

Bucky pulled the door open and was greeted by the red head who wore a baggy t-shirt and leggings. He expected her to be holding some sort of weaponry, but instead she had a clear bag filled with what looked like nail polish and various other items he didn't fully recognize.

"Um, hi?" He said nervously. Bucky would've felt more comfortable if she were holding a gun to his head ironically enough.

Natasha smirked, "Hi. You gonna let me in?"

"Uh." Bucky stepped back so she could breeze by him and finally found his words, "What are you doing here?"

She glanced over her shoulder with a look that made him feel like he had asked the dumbest question in the world. Natasha shrugged, "It's girls' night."

Bucky walked after her coming to stand by the edge of the living room while she settled on his couch without hesitation. He crossed his arms and slouched into himself, "I know the long hair may be confusing but…"

"Your best boy stole my girl." Natasha replied. "So, I needed a replacement. Clint is shit at girls' night. He always just ends up turning it into sex which is more than fine, but it's not a _girls' night_. At least, it's not the kind I've had in a _very_ long time."

Bucky lifted one hand to cup his chin, fingers splayed over his tight lips, as he tried to figure out what the fuck was going on. He hummed once, "God, am I hallucinating?"

Natasha patted the seat beside her with a smirk, "Come sit down and let me braid your hair."

And because she was Natasha Romanoff and he really had nothing to lose, Bucky did as she said. The deadly assassin had turned on a movie titled _'13 Going on 30'_ then pulled out purple nail polish to paint her toes with. Bucky leaned back in his seat and watched the movie that was apparently about a girl wishing she was old and then traveling to the future where she was old? Bucky didn't see the appeal of being taken out of your fated time.

"You haven't met him in person, but the actor who plays the male lead looks _just_ like Bruce." Natasha pointed to the screen with her brush. "We used to make fun of him for it every time we watched this movie."

"How often did you watch this movie?" Bucky questioned.

"Enough. It's Aj's favorite chick flick." She replied. "This and ' _Sweet Home Alabama'_."

Bucky nodded, "I thought her favorite film couple was from ' _The Mummy'_?" Natasha didn't immediately reply so he glanced over at her and realized she was staring at him with a grin. He shifted in his seat, "What?"

"Favorite movie couple is a different category than chick flick, but still…Interesting thing to remember. I assume she told you during one of your many secret talks?" She chuckled. Natasha screwed the brush back into the bottle and set her feet on their coffee table so her toes could dry, "Did she tell you her favorite book?"

Aj liked ' _Little Women'_ because she loved reading about how the sisters loved each other so much, she read it every year, but her absolute favorite book was ' _The Little Prince'_. It was a book her mom used to read to her. Bucky thought it was ironic how much she loved that book. He had never read it, but it had been published in 1943. The year he was drafted. Bucky vaguely had a memory of hearing about it and he only remembered it because he had planned on buying it for Rebecca.

Natasha chuckled, "I'll take your long silence as a yes." Bucky felt warmth on his face while FRIDAY announced another person at his door. He briefly wondered why the hell he was suddenly so popular. "Let him in, FRIDAY!"

" _Yes, Ms. Romanoff_."

Seconds later, Sam jogged into the room rubbing his hands together, "Did I miss the face masks?"

"Nope, you're just in time." Natasha replied and began to dig out items from her bag. "Do you want green tea, rose, or coconut?"

Sam dropped down on the other side of Natasha wearing a hoodie and shorts. He hummed loudly in thought, tilting his head back and forth, "I will take… _coconut_. I need a tropical getaway while not getting away."

Bucky watched as Sam leaned back in his seat and Natasha ripped open a blue package. She pulled out a white cloth of sorts and settled it on the man's face. There were holes for his eyes, nose, and mouth. She tossed the empty wrapper onto the table then turned to him with a the green one.

"You're getting green tea because Lord knows you need something calming in your life, Barnes." She said then handed him a head band. She pointed to her own head band that was holding her red hair away from her face. Bucky gave her a skeptical look, his eyes darted to Sam who was casually watching the movie, and then back to her.

Well, why the fuck not?

Bucky slid the head band in, but apparently, he didn't do it well enough because Natasha scoffed at him and then readjusted it. He leaned back and nervously clenched and unclenched his hand.

"Relax. It's a face mask, not arsenic. You can trust me. If I were going to kill you it would be directly and not with some odd poison."

Bucky nodded, "Gee, thanks."

She set the cool cloth on his face where it was supposed to sit and then turned to do her own. The face mask was wet, clung to his face, and smelled just like it was advertised. It actually wasn't too bad though. Relaxing wasn't quite the word. He felt too nervous sitting on the same couch as Natasha and Sam to be fully relaxed, but the mask wasn't terrible.

"Steve and Aj finally made up." Sam said, "And I'm happy, but they couldn't have done this 24 hours sooner? I owe Stark money now."

"That's what you get for betting money on it, Wilson." Natasha replied. "Both of them are too stubborn for their own good." She shook her head. "I'm surprised we didn't have to intervene _for_ them. Wilson, popcorn."

Sam scoffed, but stood, "Bossy." He turned to head to the kitchen. "Barnes, your popcorn in the same place?"

"Uh—" Bucky turned in his seat to look at him.

"Never mind, found it." Sam pulled a bag out of the pantry and moved to the microwave. Once it got going, he whipped around and pointed back at them, "How come you didn't get invited to Netflix night, Bucky? They leave the kid at home for date night?"

" _It's not a date_." Natasha replied at the same time that he did. He shot her a look at the same time that she looked at him. She chuckled and focused on the TV while speaking again, "He has to get the _balls_ to ask her on a date for it to be a date."

Bucky thought it was funny that he had literally said something along similar lines to Steve before he left. Sam came back into the living room with a bowl of popcorn and sat back down in his seat. He pointed to both of them, "He built up the courage to do it. Steve was gonna ask her out that night at the party, but then Ultron kicked down our door and fucked us up."

"Yeah, but now he has to start over. They're basically at square one. Steve has to re-work up the courage to ask again and since it took him _four months_ the first time…" Natasha scoffed. Bucky was content with focusing on the movie again, but the red head suddenly turned to look at him and he was glad the face mask hid most of his grimace, "What do you think?"

"About?"

"About Steve and Aj?" She elaborated, not that it was actually needed.

Bucky swallowed the sudden lump in his throat and shrugged, "I'm glad they made up. Steve seemed really excited to hang out with her tonight. So that's—that's good." He cleared his throat while Natasha and Sam just stared at him in blank looks. Bucky sighed, "What is going on?"

They both laughed and he couldn't help but smirk with a shake of his head. Every single person who lived in this Compound was a different kind of crazy. Natasha pointed to his face before pulling off her mask. Bucky mimicked her actions and peeled the damp item off his face. He stood and held his hand open to take hers. Sam pulled his off and held it up to him with a smirk.

"Who said I'm taking yours too?" Bucky snorted.

"It's the least you can do for taking my sandwich earlier." Sam retorted.

Bucky took his used face mask and grumbled, "That sandwich was shit."

"You take that back, Barnes!" Sam yelled at him as he walked to the kitchen to throw away the masks. He also grabbed the kitchen towel to dry the remaining dampness off his face. Natasha told him he was supposed to rub it in and let it air dry, but Bucky was over that. He walked back over to sit back in his seat.

Natasha sunk into her seat and crossed one ankle over the other, "I want to start weapons training with Aj. Something she can use on the regular that isn't a gun because she's got the worst aim I've ever seen."

"Didn't we talk about this before?" Sam asked and shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth, "What about those things the—the—" He snapped his fingers in thought, "Oh! _karambits_! One for each hand. She could go to town on a motherfucker."

The red head seemed to briefly think on it, but Bucky cut in, "No." They looked to him curiously and he shrugged, "She doesn't like knives."

"Well, then something along the lines of a baton?" Sam thought aloud. "We know ' _blunt force trauma_ ' is right up her alley."

Natasha thought through her own process and Bucky was surprised that they didn't even question his statement at all. They took his thought, his opinion, and moved on from there. Bucky leaned back in his seat and listened to the dialogue from the movie and the lighthearted argument between Sam and Natasha. Every person at this Compound was a different kind of crazy, but Bucky kind of liked it.


End file.
